4 days ago
DOGE cuts concern Seniors in Service of Tampa Bay
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Anthony Sessions has been a classroom grandparent, also called foster grandparent, through the group Seniors in Service of Tampa Bay.
'When I come into the room 'grandpa, grandpa.' It's fun. A great deal of satisfaction,' Sessions said.
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The organization is meant for low-income seniors who are 55 years old and older to volunteer as mentors and tutors in schools, help homebound elders, and assist other nonprofits with their missions.
'I love teaching and passing on the things that I've learned, and I'm really seeing the benefits of the kids having a foster grandparent,' Sessions said.
Robin Ingles is the CEO of Seniors in Service. She spoke more about the AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent Program that's run by her organization.
'In exchange for their commitment to serve at least 15 hours per week for the entire school year in the same classroom, they receive a small stipend,' Ingles said.
DOGE efforts to find waste, fraud, and abuse at AmeriCorps led to $400 million in cuts, and nearly all its federal workforce were placed on leave.
'We need the community to act and act now,' Ingles said.
That means the Tampa Bay organization, and many others have gaps in grant funding to continue its programs.
'We currently don't have personnel to go to about problems with our funding through this grant and we have the potential that these grants are not going to be funded in the proposed budget for next year,' Ingles said Seniors in Service gets about half of its funding from AmeriCorps. In a 2022 return on investment study, the agency said for every federal dollar spent, it translates to about $34 given to local communities. Last year, members of congress allocated $1.3 billion to a letter to Congress earlier this month, the Trump administration said it needed Congress to reduce discretionary spending to increase defense and border security spending. The administration also said it's possible state and local governments can help organizations with funding.
Ingles had a scheduled meeting with Rep. Kathy Castor's office on Friday. So far, Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, Vern Buchanan, and Laurel Lee have not responded to our requests for comment.
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