Latest news with #AmeriCorpsNCCC
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Don't take AmeriCorps NCCC away from the next generation
"Cutting AmeriCorps NCCC isn't a budgetary win. It's a national loss." (Photo courtesy of Maria Wilkinson) In 2015, just four months after graduating from Concord High, I arrived in California to begin a year of service to my country. Not through the military or college, but through AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) — a program that would change my life in ways I never expected. On our first day, we were told: 'You're not here to help others — you're here for yourselves.' At first, that felt selfish. But over the next 10 months, I came to understand what that meant. Yes, we were serving others — but through that service, we were also learning, growing, and transforming ourselves. I was assigned to the West Coast campus and placed on a team with 11 other young people from all across the country. We lived together, cooked together, worked out together — and most importantly, we served together. In Montana, we helped build homes with Habitat for Humanity. In California, we spent months clearing brush to reduce wildfire risk. In Utah, we served as camp counselors for individuals with disabilities. On weekends, we volunteered in local communities — cooking Sunday breakfasts at churches, planting trees to prevent erosion, cleaning up community gardens. We lived on less than $200 a month. We didn't join AmeriCorps for the money — we joined because we wanted to be part of something bigger than ourselves. I wasn't ready for college right out of high school. I needed to see more of the world first. AmeriCorps NCCC gave me that chance. This program taught me what it really means to serve my country — not just through military service or government jobs, but through compassion, manual labor, teamwork, and meeting people where they are. That's why it's devastating to see AmeriCorps NCCC being defunded and dismantled. Doing so doesn't just take away a year of service — it takes away a path of purpose, growth, and opportunity for thousands of young Americans. Cutting AmeriCorps NCCC isn't a budgetary win. It's a national loss. To the young people who won't be able to finish their year of service, and to those who will never get the chance to start: I'm sorry. You deserve this opportunity. And our country needs programs like this more than ever. AmeriCorps Mission Statement: I will get things done for America — to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier. I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities. Faced with apathy, I will take action. Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground. Faced with adversity, I will persevere. I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond. I am an AmeriCorps member, and I will get things done.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
DOGE sends AmeriCorps volunteers home
Apr. 18—On Sunday, Heartland Farm in rural Pawnee Rock said goodbye to a seven-member team of young volunteers from the AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps), thinking they were sending them off to their next project. But on Tuesday, NCCC informed volunteers they would exit the program early, due to federal government cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). More than 2,000 people ages 18 to 26 years serve in NCCC for a year, helping with disaster relief and working for nonprofit organizations. The teams that spent several weeks working at Heartland Farm also helped with disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Helene and they helped build a trail at the Mississippi River State Park in Arkansas. Heartland Farm is a ministry of the Dominican Sisters of Peace. A post on the Heartland Farm Facebook page notes dismay at the DOGE cuts. "We thought we were sending them off to their next project, another lucky organization where they would touch people's lives and create lasting change. Instead, all of them were sent home (Tuesday) hours after learning that AmicCorps NCCC was shut down completely by DOGE. "We were devastated on behalf of our awesome AmeriCorps team and all of the other NCCC members who are suddenly at a loss. And we're mourning the opportunities lost to young people across the country who don't get this once-in-a-lifetime experience to work hard, gain new skills, and make a difference." The Great Bend Tribune contacted Sr. Jane Belanger at Heartland Farm, who said she was saddened by the news. "This continues to be a busy time (at the farm), even without the AmeriCorps folks. As the FB post says, we are more than dismayed at the administration's decision to axe the NCCC program without notice, in the middle of the term for its members. We, at Heartland Farm, have experienced the value of this program, not only for us as a nonprofit benefitting from the service from the crew of seven young people, but for the growth, experience and confidence that they were acquiring through it," she said. "I am sad for each one of them," she continued. "I am sad for the many other young adults throughout the U.S. who experienced the same abrupt termination. I am sad for the agencies, disaster sites, public facilities on all levels of national, state, county and municipal levels that will not have their projects completed — thus denying all the benefit of the AmeriCorps NCCC labor. "This is more than a 'necessary' budget trimming; it is another example of mean-spirited, irresponsible and dangerous behavior on the part of our government that has been entrusted with the common good of all of us. This particular move speaks to the disregard this administration has for the lives and future of our nation. Our voices need to be heard on behalf of so many abruptly stranded, and disinherited by the nation they were serving."
WIRED
16-04-2025
- General
- WIRED
DOGE Cuts Pull AmeriCorps Volunteers Off of Disaster Relief Jobs
AmeriCorps, the US federal agency that oversees volunteerism and service work, abruptly pulled teams of young people out of a variety of community service projects across the country on Tuesday. The work stoppage was due to cuts attributed to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, volunteers were informed Tuesday afternoon. WIRED spoke with seven workers with the National Civilian Community Corps, better known as AmeriCorps NCCC, who say that they were told to stop working on projects ranging from rebuilding homes destroyed in storms, to readying a summer camp for kids, to distributing supplies for hurricane recovery, and prepare to immediately travel back to their homes. Aadharsh Jeyasakthivel, a 23-year-old from Boston, was serving at a county food bank in rural Pennsylvania when he and his fellow volunteers were suddenly pulled from service. 'Non Americorps ppl are still distributing,' he wrote to WIRED in a Signal message, sending a photo of yellow-vested volunteers working on a line in a parking lot. The AmeriCorps NCCC program was established under the Clinton administration by the National and Community Service Trust Act, signed in 1993. Each year, it recruits 2,200 people between the ages of 18 to 26 to serve in teams working across the country on different projects. Some volunteers also work directly alongside staff from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Forest Service, as part of smaller programs that are run within the NCCC. Graduates of the program get access to an award to help pay off federal student loans.
