Axing AmeriCorps would mean loss of community programs, leaders say

Axing AmeriCorps, which has 1,500 people doing service work in Iowa this year, would hurt environmental efforts, literacy programs, health services and disaster relief, according to program coordinators across the state.

The Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers AmeriCorps, is among federal programs reportedly on the chopping block in President Donald Trump's fiscal 2018 budget. The budget proposal isn't out yet - the White House is expected to release some broad strokes of its spending plan Thursday - but the heads of Iowa AmeriCorps programs are nervous.

'With the elimination of the Corporation for National and Community Service comes the elimination of AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and thousands of programs across the country that would not be able to provide services,” said Ashley Craft, program director for Green Iowa AmeriCorps, based in Cedar Falls.

Green Iowa works with 35 to 50 AmeriCorps members to provide free energy audits and home weatherization for low-income, elderly and disabled residents, educational programs and volunteer events like tree planting and community gardening. The program's budget for this year is $800,000.

Reports of elimination

The New York Times reported last month the White House Office of Management and Budget had put together a list of programs it would like to see dropped as part of Trump's 2018 budget. Many of the programs, such as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts, are frequent targets for the GOP, the Times reported.

But former Republican donors and some elected officials wrote a letter to Trump last week urging him not to cut the Corporation for National and Community Service because of the wide-ranging public service work of AmeriCorps, according to Politico. Not only does AmeriCorps develop 'strong citizens,” it leverages federal money to get matches from local governments and corporations, the letter said.

The corporation's fiscal 2016 budget was $788 million, which was .02 percent of the federal budget of just under $4 trillion for that year, according to the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank that on Monday issued a brief in support of AmeriCorps.

The National and Community Service Corporation committed more than $21.7 million to support Iowa-based initiatives in fiscal 2017, leveraging another $11.4 million in local and corporate matches, according to the agency.

AmeriCorps members were critical in the aftermath of the 2008 floods as Cedar Rapids recovered, squeegying water from basements, painting and building new houses. And AmericCorps members again last fall helped brace for and clean up after the 2016 flood that was staved off.

Literacy program

Through Youth Achievement AmeriCorps, 20 to 25 AmeriCorps members help with literacy programs and enrichment at four Cedar Rapids elementary schools and one middle school, said John Spanczak, program manager. Members provide one-on-one tutoring and after-school activities such as science, art, sports and computer coding.

'It would be a travesty to see a program like this doing such great work disappear from our city,” Spanczak said.

The Youth Achievement program costs about $360,000 a year, 57 percent of which comes from the federal government, he said.

AmeriCorps, which provides full-time members with an educational award of $6,000 and living stipends, helps young people develop a lifetime connection to community service, said Craft, a Denver, Iowa, native who enrolled after graduating from college in the late 2000s.

She worked at a Boys & Girls Club in Casper, Wy., and led a program in Jacksonville, Texas, before coming back to Eastern Iowa.

'It really was life changing for me,” said Craft, 30. 'Now I have the opportunity to give that gift to other young people.”

Congress support

Brianne Fitzgerald, a spokeswoman for Volunteer Iowa, the agency that administers AmeriCorps programs in the state, said leaders don't yet know whether Trump will propose eliminating the Corporation for National and Community Service, but she expects Iowa's congressional delegation would speak against it.

U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, both Republicans, released statements Wednesday saying they would wait to see Trump's budget.

'Sen. Grassley would need to study what's in the President's budget proposal and what Senate appropriators set forth before having an opinion on appropriate funding levels for AmeriCorps,” spokeswoman Jill Gerber said. 'He likes to say that the President proposes and Congress disposes.”

Dave Loebsack, a Democrat representing Iowa's 2nd District in the U.S. House, said he would advocate for 'strong investment.”

'As we have seen firsthand here in Iowa, AmeriCorps members are an indispensable resource for the communities and individuals they serve,” according to his statement.

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