Latest news with #NCCC
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
DOGE slashed AmeriCorps - why the national service program cuts matter in Pa.
Few programs are as "America-first" as AmeriCorps. It is a decades-old initiative, bipartisan in its creation and operation, that has provided national service opportunities for over a million people in a variety of service areas in every state in the union. It is often a life-changing experience, both for those who benefit directly from the service project and for those who provide the service. It was for me. AmeriCorps has several service options available to choose from. I did my year of service in the National Civilian Community Corps. In the 25 years plus since my tenure, AmeriCorps has grown and diversified while remaining true to its pledge to "get things done for America." More: National Civilian Community Corps aids Erie groups As part of the NCCC, I was assigned to a team of a dozen people, ages 18 to 24, and to a campus that brought together people from all across the country. We were diverse in background, education, experience and politics, but for a year we worked together, lived together and learned from each other. We teamed up with community organizations and government agencies to get things done. The projects we worked on together included building homes with Habitat for Humanity in rural Virginia, tutoring students in D.C. public schools, refurbishing public housing in several states, responding with the Red Cross to a flood disaster in Ohio and so much more. We finished our service year with a small educational stipend, but with lives enriched by an amazing experience and the value we found in serving our country. For many people, AmeriCorps is the start of their public service, not the end. Several thousand AmeriCorps members serve in hundreds of sites across Pennsylvania annually. They work to invest tens of millions of dollars in our state and economy. They have worked in our schools, health clinics, shelters, food banks, veterans' facilities and youth centers. They have provided disaster relief and enhanced public safety. Since its inception, it is estimated that Pennsylvania has benefited from 80 million hours of work through AmeriCorps. With the recently announced $400 million in federal cuts to AmeriCorps programming, the future of this unifying, bipartisan program is murky at best. This abrupt action by the federal government has driven Gov. Josh Shapiro to join a lawsuit brought by two dozen states demanding the federal government keep its promises. This suit includes other states that voted for the president, including North Carolina, Nevada, Kentucky and Wisconsin. Cuts are already in line for a veteran mental health initiative in Butler, school supports for thousands of kids in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and water infrastructure projects in 15 rural counties, to name just a few. It is incumbent upon all levels of government to appropriately manage taxpayer dollars, and no one supports wasteful spending. But taking a chainsaw instead of a scalpel to a program like AmeriCorps will not result in a stronger America. More: What is AmeriCorps? What to know about the latest organization impacted by DOGE cuts AmeriCorps did not just sprout up overnight. It took decades of Democrats and Republicans working together to create something effective and accessible nationwide. Damage to its reputation and program stability will not be easy to remedy, but states, nonprofits and religious groups alike depend upon this partnership. Thousands of Americans every year sign up to "get things done." The call has been answered, and the federal government must not hang up. State Rep. Dan Miller represents the western Pennsylvania 42nd Legislative District of Mt. Lebanon, Castle Shannon, Dormont, Baldwin Twp. and parts of Upper St. Clair. This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Why DOGE AmeriCorps cuts matter in Pennsylvania | Opinion
Boston Globe
19-05-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
‘What's more patriotic than Americans helping other Americans?'
Send questions or suggestions to the Starting Point team at . If you'd like the newsletter sent to your inbox, . TODAY'S STARTING POINT Nicole Kach has always wanted to help people. Growing up in Seekonk, Mass., Kach cleared trails with the Girl Scouts and volunteered at the town food pantry. During her junior year at UMass Dartmouth, she led a service trip to Guatemala to help install water filtration systems. So when the head of her college's office of community service suggested she consider serving with AmeriCorps after graduating last spring, Kach agreed. She applied to be a team leader with the National Civilian Community Corps, part of a network of AmeriCorps programs that fields teams of young adults to work on community service projects across the US for months at a time. 'It's important to give back to others,' Kach wrote in her application, 'and I believe that participating in AmeriCorps is one of the ways I can do that.' A few months later, Kach was on the other side of the country, leading a team of a dozen NCCC members to fireproof a campsite and retreat center in Julian, Calif. After that, her team headed to the Seattle area, where they worked at a food bank and helped low-income residents file their taxes. Advertisement Then Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency stepped in. Advertisement Kach was helping a woman with her tax return when her boss called. The Trump administration had ordered her team demobilized. Kach and her fellow corps members needed to leave their worksite, pack their things, and return to AmeriCorps' regional hub in Sacramento immediately. Their service was over. 'I just remember dropping to the floor and just sobbing,' Kach said. 'Probably the hardest thing that I've ever done was telling the team that we were going home.' Besides sadness, Kach's main emotion was confusion. Congress had already appropriated funding for AmeriCorps. Her team was already out in the field. 'We just all thought that we were doing such good work for the communities we were in,' she said. (The White House has called AmeriCorps 'a target-rich environment for President Trump's agenda to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse,' even though an audit of the agency last year made no claims of fraud Besides Kach's, the administration has demobilized NCCC teams that were building homes in North Carolina, facilitating afterschool programs in Arizona, and Advertisement It's hard for me to be objective about Kach and her work because I also did AmeriCorps. For 10 months between high school and college, I served as a tutor and classroom assistant in a Boston public school with an AmeriCorps program called City Year. The administration's grant terminations have impacted City Year's operations in several cities, a program spokesman told me. AmeriCorps has long had bipartisan support. The agency began in 1993 under Bill Clinton, but many Republicans 'People I'm talking with are in advanced stages of sorrow,' Goldsmith said. Their concerns reflect the many ways AmeriCorps' work helps people. Independent studies find that some of the agency's programs generate National service also exposes those who undertake it to people unlike themselves. Kach's team reflected the country, comprising corps members from Texas, New Jersey, Ohio, Arizona, and Puerto Rico. The City Year team I served on remains the most socioeconomically diverse group I've ever worked with. 'You can think about it as helping understand the lives of others, which is important,' said Goldsmith, who is now a Harvard professor. 'But you can also think about it as a training ground for civic leadership.' Advertisement AmeriCorps isn't for everyone. The work is poorly compensated and can be grueling. Kach received a $500 stipend every two weeks; her corps members got even less. Over five months, four of them dropped out. 'I went into AmeriCorps knowing I was gonna be dirt poor,' Kach said. 'I did it because I believed in the mission.' Kach is now back at her parents' home in Seekonk applying for jobs. She's confident she'll land on her feet, but less sure about those her service was helping. 'It's a question as to who's going to do this work,' she said. Still, Kach left even more convinced that AmeriCorps was good for her, is good for America, and is worth preserving. 'It made me realize for sure that the biggest thing I want to do is to continue to help the country,' she said. 'That sounds so cringey to be like, 'I want to keep helping people!' But it's honest-to-God true.' 🧩 6 Across: | ⛅ 61 ° POINTS OF INTEREST Canton, Mass. Barry Chin/Globe Staff Boston and Massachusetts Karen Read retrial: Testimony has given Canton, the town where John O'Keefe died, a reputation for hard drinking and casual drunk driving. The data Looking ahead: This spring has been warmer and wetter than usual. Here's what that RIP: Charlene Roberts-Hayden grew up in Medford and became a pioneering Black woman in computer programming. She Trump administration Russia-Ukraine war: Russia launched hundreds of drones against Ukraine. Trump is scheduled to speak with Vladimir Putin today in an effort to end the war. ( Israel-Hamas war: After US pressure, Israel said it would allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza even as it began a new ground offensive there. ( Trump's agenda: A House committee advanced Trump's tax bill after conservative Republican holdouts, who blocked it last week for not cutting Medicaid sooner, relented in exchange for promised changes. ( Friendly fire: Mike Pence, Trump's former vice president, praised Trump for securing the southern border, but called his tariffs a tax hike. ( New pope: JD Vance, Trump's current vice president, met with Pope Leo XIV in Rome. ( Haitian Flag Day: On the holiday, Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune The Nation and the World Collision: Officials are investigating what caused a Mexican Navy training vessel to hit the Brooklyn Bridge, killing two sailors. ( Fertility clinic bombing: The FBI identified the suspect who detonated a car bomb in Palm Springs, Calif., as a man who said he opposed bringing people into the world against their will. ( N.J. strike: New Jersey Transit's train engineers reached a tentative deal to end a three-day strike that disrupted service to New York City and elsewhere. ( Tornados: After deadly twisters struck Kentucky and Missouri, locals reported tornado damage in Colorado and Kansas. ( International elections: Bucharest's liberal, pro-Europe mayor won Romania's presidential election, beating a right-wing nationalist. ( BESIDE THE POINT By Teresa Hanafin 🗓️ Free events this week: A best margarita contest, outdoor exercise classes, a BPL film screening, free concerts, 🌞 Summer Arts Guide: Globe critics and contributors have put together a comprehensive list of Advertisement 📺 TV this week: Julianne Moore stars in a dark comedy, Sarah Silverman mourns her parents, Tyler Perry has a new political sitcom, 🍿 Movie review: The recap of the entire Mission: Impossible series that opens the latest installment is tedious. But when the action starts, 🎭 SNL rumors: The last episode of SNL's 50th season Saturday had no cast goodbyes, so speculation over who's leaving — including boss Lorne Michaels — is rampant. ( 🙏 Appreciating New England: Quit whining about the rain and look around, photographer Stan Grossfeld says: 🔌 Worker beware: Even if your boss tells you to unplug outside of work hours, she may not mean it. And could ding you for it. ( 🥒 Food watch: Deli meat, cucumbers, and some cheeses made Consumer Reports' list of the 10 riskiest foods to eat because of the frequency of bacterial contamination. ( ⚾️ Fat chance: One-time Red Sox nemesis Ron Darling, the former Mets pitcher who grew up in Millbury, considers himself Thanks for reading Starting Point. This newsletter was edited by ❓ Have a question for the team? Email us at ✍🏼 If someone sent you this newsletter, you can Advertisement 📬 Delivered Monday through Friday. Ian Prasad Philbrick can be reached at
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump flag flying? No thanks. I don't want to know a business' politics.
The other day, I needed to get my car towed. There is a towing business in my community that I considered. I'm not out to ruin anyone's reputation, so I'll just say I used them years ago, and I was satisfied with the experience. They were kind and professional, and they did just what I expected them to do. The problem is that over the course of the past few years, they have become more political with the flags they fly in front of their establishment. I first noticed this a couple of years ago when I was driving past and saw them flying a flag that read 'Let's go Brandon!' As everyone knows by now this was a pejorative directed to then-President Joe Biden. The backstory to this NASCAR-coined insult is pretty ridiculous, but I'll leave it there. Needless to say, I voted for Biden, so I did not find it amusing at all, and I made a mental note of it. Sometime later, still before this recent election, another flag appeared. It read, 'Don't blame me, I voted for Trump!' "Oh really," I thought to myself. Well, they're not the only place around. I guess I won't be going back there. Today, they sport a flag that supports the police. Well, good for you, towing company, I support the police, too, but the damage was done. That's why, the other day when I needed my car towed, I went with someone else. They did a great job. They, too, were kind and professional, and I have no idea who they voted for. I like that. Novi is a solidly purple area, just look for yourself on at the Novi political map. Displaying a political flag probably alienated half your community. Like I said, I'm not out to ruin anyone's reputation ― who knows, maybe my letter will bring in new customers from the red areas to the west. But I have a suggestion for you, local towing business ― no one is impressed with your Trump flags. Why don't you just fly the good old Stars and Stripes, and be done with it? Eddie Dee Novi Nearly 10 years ago, I boarded a one-way flight to Sacramento to serve as a Team Leader with AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps — a national service program that changed my life. I spent over 2,500 hours building homes, reducing wildfire risk, and supporting people with disabilities. NCCC brings together diverse young adults from across the country to serve where the need is greatest. Covering housing and travel, it removes financial barriers to join, allowing everyone the chance to serve. In so many ways, NCCC embodied what we all hope America can be: people coming together across difference, in service of the common good. Opinion: I joked about getting deported. In Trump's America, it's not funny. | Opinion Last month, the Department of Government Efficiency cut NCCC's funding. In doing so, we lose a rare space where young people grow into thoughtful, compassionate leaders by serving others. It's a loss for the communities served — and a loss for our country. Please contact your members of Congress to save this vital program. Catie Meyers Redford Letters: It's been 100 days. How is Trump doing? Have your say in a letter to the editor | Letters It's too bad that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer felt compelled to sell her soul for 21 F-15EX Eagle II jet fighters. Is this what Michigan needs? What will these planes do to improve education, healthcare, housing and transportation in our state or repair our crumbling infrastructure? The Pentagon budget is already bloated while the president and Congress propose severe cuts to Medicaid and other programs that serve the basic needs of the most vulnerable among us. Sad to say, our governor has joined the ranks of Democratic politicians who are unable or unwilling to stand up to the president even as he defies the law and shreds the Constitution. Governor, we expected more from you. Karen M. Donahue Detroit Submit a letter to the editor at and we may publish it online and in print. If you have a differing view from a letter writer, please feel free to submit a letter of your own in response. Like what you're reading? Please consider supporting local journalism and getting unlimited digital access with a Detroit Free Press subscription. We depend on readers like you. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trump flags, Gretchen Whitmer, DOGE cuts | Letters
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
May Day Rally: Crowd protests Trump Admin policies
May 3—May Day marked a national day of protest against the policies implemented during the first 100 days of the second Trump administration. Organized by the Barton County Democratic Party and joined by members from The League of Women Voters of Great Bend and residents from Barton and Pawnee counties met at the courthouse band shell to say "Hands off!" Rally attendees sat in the band shell seating listening to speakers describe the Trump administration's policies viewed as harmful to democracy and issues important to them and how they have been impacted by tariffs, the closure of federal programs, the threat of cuts to social security and potential impacts in the future. Tariffs Impacting Farmers Tom Giessel, a Pawnee County farmer, described the impacts the gutting of USAID has had on grain markets and farmers in the Golden Belt region. "Farmers have worked for years building these markets, providing the food for other people around the world, and in this country as well, and it's been yanked out of from under us." He explained that there is now no place to go for this grain and some farmers' cooperatives are pulling milo out of the elevators and putting it on the ground. Tariffs are not only impacting the crops that farmers produce and sell but also the products that they depend upon for growing and harvesting their crops, Giessel explained. "A combine transmission might be made in Spain. These parts come from all over the world, and we depend on access to those parts, and it's so critical and I think we are really teetering on the edge of a real crisis with this idea of tariffs and what it might do to parts supply." DOGE cuts to volunteer program and NIH, CDC The website still reads "AmeriCorps is the federal agency for national service and volunteerism. From mentoring students to supporting disaster recovery, helping older adults age with dignity, and tackling other pressing needs, AmeriCorps helps communities across the country." Farm manager Katie Goerl spoke on the impact AmeriCorps volunteers made upon Heartland Farm before the program that enabled volunteers to experience Central Kansas and work four weeks at Heartland Farm was cut shortly after their departure and next assignment. Heartland Farm is way better off now than it was a couple months ago, Goerl said, because of these people and after the first day of hosting the volunteers she and her boss wondered when they could get their second team. Seven young adults ages 18-24 with National Civilian Conservation Corps (NCCC), a branch of AmeriCorps, spent four weeks working at Heartland Farm and the Dominican Sisters Convent in Great Bend. "They came from states and cities across the country; Tennessee, Connecticut, New Jersey, a couple from California and North Carolina. So none of them had even been to Kansas before," Goerl said. "They didn't even know what a pancake feed was." Along with the NCCC, other programs within AmeriCorps address poverty in low-income communities, mentorship programs for kids, helpers for older adults to continue living independently. Programs for literacy, health, public safety, conservation, tutoring programs and building homes for organizations like Habitat for Humanity are also within the scope of the organization, she explained. "I'm sad for the teenager who came to our farm to learn about AmeriCorps because she thought maybe she wanted to do that after she graduated high school this month, she doesn't have that option anymore. It's one less option for young adults to go out and learn useful skills and work hard." Jan Stice addressed funding cuts to the National Institute of Health and the CDC and the impacts in years to follow with the decrease in research funding to infectious diseases, cancer and heart disease. "This is leading to hiring freezes and the result is many of our top medical research scientists and PhD candidates are actively being recruited by labs and universities in other countries." Hands off Social Security "Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) for people that don't know is for people with disabilities," Rhys Froetschner, who works with people with disabilities said. "And people with disabilities rely heavily on Social Security to live their lives, to help with medication, to help with equipment such as wheelchairs or walkers and it's important that these people get the care they need. It's important that they get the services they need. And the way that the Trump administration is going, it doesn't look bright." Rally organizers encouraged attendees to continue to meet and become more active in local affairs by joining committees and being involved.
Miami Herald
27-04-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
DOGE's sweeping AmeriCorps cuts leave Philly volunteer programs unsure if they will get promised funding
Alani Rose was overseeing a tax-preparation clinic for low-income households in San Antonio, Texas, when she was called into a meeting, let go, and told to make her way thousands of miles back home as soon as possible. That's how Rose, who graduated from the now-defunct University of the Arts in 2023, ended up back on the East Coast, couch surfing between Philadelphia apartments and her father's house in North Jersey. "I have a trend following me of things shutting down," said Rose, 23. "I have places where I can be, but not a place where I should be. … I don't have a home in Philly." Rose was a member of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), a yearlong federal community service program that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency cut on April 15 while probing the entire agency for alleged wastefulness. Around 750 NCCC members working on disaster relief and anti-poverty projects received emails recalling them from their posts "effective immediately." The day after, 85% of federal AmeriCorps employees were placed on administrative leave. And on Friday, DOGE ordered AmeriCorps to terminate $400 million in grants to more than 1,000 organizations that host local community service projects. AmeriCorps' gutting has drawn bipartisan criticism as nonprofits in Philadelphia and beyond scramble to replace the vital services participants provide: repairing homes destroyed in natural disasters, staffing food banks, and assisting teachers in underserved schools, among others. "When the next hurricane hits, who are they going to deploy to clean up those houses, to distribute food with the Red Cross?" Rose asked. The Clinton administration started AmeriCorps in 1993 as a domestic version of the Peace Corps. People ages 18 to 26 spend 10 months working on service projects in exchange for a modest living stipend and a higher education grant. The agency's $1 billion operating cost makes up less than 0.02% of the 2025 federal budget, though AmeriCorps has prevented auditors from fully reviewing its finances for the last eight years by failing to produce usable financial statements. A 2020 study from Voices of National Service also found that for every tax dollar invested in AmeriCorps, its programs return $17.30 in value. The AmeriCorps participants, administrators, and politicians The Inquirer interviewed agreed that AmeriCorps could be run more efficiently. Gutting the agency from the inside, however, is not the way to fix those problems, they said. "They're coming in with the assumption that this is all waste, fraud, and abuse," said U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a Democrat who represents Chester County, who taught chemistry at Simon Gratz High School in 2011 through AmeriCorps. "But we have so much to lose when we talk about taking these people, who have servant hearts, out of communities." Philadelphia is already feeling ripple effects from the cuts. It received more than $17.9 million in federal funding to support 1,368 AmeriCorps volunteers for the 2023-24 fiscal year, the most of any county or city in Pennsylvania. Most recently, the Pennsylvania Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster had to pause repairs on 250 homes in the Philadelphia area that sustained damage after its 11 NCCC participants were sent away. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., an AmeriCorps alum, called the cuts "stupid and punitive," while Houlahan has cosponsored a bill that would prohibit federal dollars from being used to gut AmeriCorps. Philly's AmeriCorps network worries that the lack of staff will make it difficult to receive already-promised funds and onboard new volunteers, jeopardizing their ability to run programs smoothly. "I was literally telling some of my staff yesterday, like, 'You should probably start looking for a new job,' because I don't know that we have a program after August," said Hillary Kane, the director of the Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development (PHENND), which hosts 54 AmeriCorps participants. Administrative gaps could tie up millions in funding Kane said that about 70% of PHENND's budget comes from federal AmeriCorps funds. The funding supports a mentorship program for first-generation low-income college students and fellows who work on college readiness and capacity-building in Philadelphia schools, among other things. Kane said she had already secured or applied for funding to support all of PHENND's programs for the next year, turning the problems from financial to logistic. "In my world, which is fully funded, if there's no one (at AmeriCorps headquarters) to click the buttons that put people into programs, it doesn't matter," Kane said. "We've already made offers to people for next year. What are we supposed to tell them?" Sakinah Bibi, a senior at West Chester University, serves as a community and family engagement coordinator at KIPP Philadelphia charter schools through AmeriCorps. She earns $957 every two weeks to plan social-emotional learning lessons for special education classes, run family focus groups, and administer a college prep program. The work, Bibi said, has changed her life. "I feel like the kids are a part of me. … I found out that social work is my calling," said Bibi, 25, who receives college credit for working at KIPP. Other local organizations are in a position similar to PHENND's, promised funding but uncertain that administrative hang-ups will let them actually receive it. Four Philadelphia programs receive over $1 million in AmeriCorps funding - including City Year, which brought in $4.6 million to support 125 student success coaches at 13 Philadelphia-area public schools. "At present, there have been no changes to our AmeriCorps funding," Darryl Bundrige, executive director of CityYear Philadelphia, said in a statement. The group has been "working in close partnership" with the Voices for National Service coalition, which lobbied Democratic members of Congress to send President Donald Trump a letter asking for the cuts to be reversed. The City of Philadelphia also received over $632,000 in federal funding to support its VISTA program, which hosts 25 AmeriCorps volunteers in city departments to work on anti-poverty initiatives. The program will continue to operate unless it is notified of changes to its grant, said Robin Walker, deputy executive director of place-based initiatives at the Philadelphia Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity. But without the funding the city will "face diminished capacity to address the root causes and impacts of poverty." Khaleelah Ahmad, 41, has been a community partnerships coordinator at Jules E. Mastbaum High School in Kensington for the last three years through AmeriCorps. Most of her time is spent working with nonprofits on programs that help students deal with the trauma of growing up in the center of Philly's opioid epidemic. Ahmad worries even missing a week with them due to funding lapses could be disruptive. "When I'm not there, my students ask, 'Where you at, Ms. Ahmad?'" she said. "People rely on us." Big gaps to fill Others worry that dissolving NCCC could kneecap vulnerable communities and young people at the same time, leaving both to figure out how to cope with a job unfinished. Daniel Hassler graduated from Drexel last year and then went straight into AmeriCorps NCCC. His first assignment was in North Carolina with the Red Cross in the wake of Hurricane Helene. After that, Hassler lived on $380 a month from AmeriCorps as he worked on other projects, like setting up a food bank and working on assistive home repairs for seniors in Sacramento, Calif. "It was daunting at first," said Hassler, 22, who has since returned home to live with his parents in Connecticut. "But also beautiful getting to see what we're capable of when we work together." Hassler and Gwen Pfister, a 2024 Temple University graduate from Havertown, found out NCCC was getting shut down from a Reddit post while traveling back from an NCCC assignment in Washington state. "There's a misconception that people are going to be filling the gaps that we are leaving," said Pfister, 23. "Other people may step up to volunteer, but not in the way we do, five days a week for six weeks straight." Hassler, Pfister, and all other NCCC participants will be still be able to receive the $7,395 higher education grant AmeriCorps promised them. Right now, it feels like a consolation prize. "Part of the reason I joined AmeriCorps was to figure out what I wanted to do after college, and I still don't really know that," Hassler said. _____ Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
