LOCALIZE IT: AmeriCorps service program that touches every state gets targeted by DOGE

EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:

A community service program that sends young adults across the U.S. to respond to natural disasters and help with community projects was the latest target of the Trump administration’s campaign to slash government spending.

AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps informed volunteers Tuesday that they would exit the program early “due to programmatic circumstances beyond your control,” according to an email obtained by The Associated Press.

The unsigned memo to corps members said NCCC’s “ability to sustain program operations” was impacted by the Trump administration’s priorities. The federal agency’s budget showed NCCC funding amounted to nearly $38 million last fiscal year.

AmeriCorps NCCC, which completed its 30th year last year, employs more than 2,000 people ages 18 to 26 participating for a roughly 10-month service term, according to the program’s website. The teams of corps members are tasked with working on several projects related to education, housing, urban and rural development, land conservation, and disaster relief, driving from one assignment to another across the country.

The agency pays for volunteers’ basic expenses, including housing, meals and a “limited health benefit,” as well as a “modest” living allowance and an education stipend for those who complete their full service term, according to the program.

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READ AP’S COVERAGE

AmeriCorps members who respond to disasters and help nonprofits are let go in DOGE cuts

DOGE targets a community service program in its latest cost-cutting effort

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FIND YOUR STATE: VIEW REGIONAL FACEBOOK PAGES FOR RECENT CORP MEMBER ACTIVITIES

AmeriCorps has several service programs, so be sure to look at NCCC specifically to find examples of what these corps members were doing in your state. The NCCC program is organized by region. Each has a Facebook page, linked below, and regularly post about the work they are doing.

— North Central region with campus in Vinton, Iowa, serves: Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Vermont

— Pacific region with campus in Sacramento, California, serves: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and the Pacific Territories

— Southern region with campus in Vicksburg, Mississippi, serves: Alabama, Connecticut, Washington DC, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, The US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico

— Southwest region with campus in Aurora, Colorado, serves: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming

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FIND YOUR STATE: AMERICORPS NCCC PRESENCE IN PLACES WITH MAJOR NATURAL DISASTERS

AmeriCorps NCCC has a partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and, more recently, the U.S. Forest Service. Those volunteers over the last year responded to tornadoes and flooding in Iowa, hurricane damage in North Carolina and wildfires in California, among other natural disasters, when volunteers are especially visible.

For example, on Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, the agency says: “More than 870 AmeriCorps members serving with AmeriCorps NCCC and AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA Corps and personnel have responded to serve with a variety of partners to support recovery operations in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas.”

If your state or community faced a natural disaster recently, FEMA Corps members might have been assigned to respond. Many states have their own agencies dedicated to emergency management and/or volunteer efforts, some of which coordinate directly with AmeriCorps NCCC.

Some of the agency’s press releases, linked below, might point you to the right place. You also can reach out to your state’s organization to learn more about how AmeriCorps NCCC helped in your state.

— On teams assigned to North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Georgia, Florida and Washington, DC: AmeriCorps Supports Disaster Recovery in North Carolina, Continues to Support States Impacted by Hurricane Helene

— On recent memorandums of understanding with state-level volunteer agencies in Illinois, North Carolina and Virginia

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FIND YOUR STATE: ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE RELIED ON AMERICORPS NCCC TEAMS

The traditional NCCC volunteers worked with sponsors including community and faith-based based organizations, nonprofits, schools, cities and tribes. Some of the recent service projects included working at a food bank in Washington state, building homes with Habitat for Humanity in North Carolina, and facilitating after school programs in Arizona.

There is information on recent NCCC deployments online at this link and available for download here. Included in the dataset are the sponsoring organization, the location they are based and the dates of deployment.

AmeriCorps NCCC also highlights some organizations that hosted teams in these press releases:

— AmeriCorps NCCC Deploys 48 Teams Across Nation

— AmeriCorps NCCC Deploys 70 Teams Across Nation

— AmeriCorps NCCC Deploys 56 Teams Across Nation

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FIND YOUR STATE: BY THE NUMBERS

AmeriCorps also provides state-by-state reports on the agency’s overall impact. Included in these reports, that run a few pages long, are the numbers of NCCC projects, project locations and participants. Reports on each state and some territories can be accessed on this website. It’s possible these AmeriCorps pages will be deleted in the near future so consider downloading the report for your state and others of interest, as well as other AmeriCorps resources linked in this guide.

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SUGGESTIONS FOR REPORTING

Use these clues on places where AmeriCorps NCCC teams were sent for disaster recovery or to help with community projects to launch reporting from your state. You can reach out directly to your state or local government agencies to learn more about the presence of AmeriCorps NCCC in your state.

You also can reach out to the specific organizations where teams were recently deployed to learn more about what they were doing and how the early dismissals will impact the projects. Ask sponsor organizations about the projects, the extent to which they relied on NCCC teams and how their work will continue without those resources. Probe sponsor organizations on how their projects are funded, what it cost them to sponsor the deployment and what it cost AmeriCorps to send the team.

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Localize It is a reporting resource produced by The Associated Press for its customers’ use. Questions can be directed to Katie Oyan at koyan@ap.org.