AmeriCorps cuts make no sense

During the flood of 2008 and the Derecho of 2020, young AmeriCorps volunteers were a familiar sight in Cedar Rapids. They mucked through flood sludge in homes, cleaned up debris and many other jobs they were assigned to help residents recover.

Now, the Trump administration is puling the plug on the AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps after 30 years of service. Volunteers in communities across the country have been informed they’re being let go “due to programmatic circumstances beyond your control,” according to an email obtained by The Associated Press.

Seattle, Philadelphia, Buffalo, New Hampshire, Virginia and North Dakota are among countless communities and states who are losing volunteers. Nationwide, $400 million in federal grants for the program were rescinded.

Iowa is also feeling the effect of Trump’s edict. Hundreds of AmeriCorps members have been affected.

Republicans such as Trump have argued for expansion of patriotic education in schools, teaching American ideals and values to students. And yet, they’re slashing spending on an effort that instilled American values through service to their country. What could b e more American than coming together to provide help when needed?

The AmeriCorps campus at the former Braille and Sight Saving School in Vinton, one of four regional camps nationwide, was disbanded and its volunteers were sent home. It was abrupt and unwelcome news for local nonprofit groups who relied on AmeriCorps volunteers, including the Indian Creek Nature Center.

“For the amount of cost of this program, it seems pretty shortsighted to shut it down, because the AmeriCorps program really contributes a lot of work to our communities throughout the United States,” John Myers, executive director of Indian Creek, told The Gazette’s Olivia Cohen. “It seems a shame to be able to shut it down.”

Shutting down AmeriCorps NCCC is a breathtakingly shortsighted idea. Since 1999, teams have served 8 million hours responding to natural disasters.

Volunteers, ages 18 to 26, were also working with hopes of receiving help paying for future education expenses.

You get the feeling, like so many issues, the president doesn’t understand what AmeriCorps is and what it does. Otherwise, why would he back this harmful mistake?

We don't quibble with the need to live within a budget. But The Department of Government Efficiency’s approach to blindly making cuts isn't strategic. Taking the time to understand programs and analyze whether a program provides good value would be a more beneficial process for everyone.

Instead, we’re left trying to understand the loss of another important institution destroyed by DOGE. The administration should change course.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com