FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, August 29, 2003
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Corporation for National and Community Service
CONTACT: Sandy Scott
sscott@cns.gov
202-606-5000 x255 |
AmeriCorps Announces $10 Million in Grants to Support 5,000 More AmeriCorps Members Serving this Year |
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(Washington, D.C.) -- In the latest of a series of grant announcements this
summer, the Corporation for National and Community Service today announced
AmeriCorps grants totaling $10.8 million to support approximately 5,000
AmeriCorps members who will work with local nonprofit organizations to tutor and
mentor at-risk youth, feed the homeless, respond to disasters, care for seniors
and the disabled, and mobilize volunteers to meet other vital community needs.
The 18 approved organizations include large national groups such as the Boys
and Girls Clubs of America and the Catholic Network of Volunteer Service as well
as smaller organizations such as the Rural Alaska Community Action Program. In
addition to the $10.8 million in grants announced, the Corporation will also
provide education awards for AmeriCorps members serving in these programs who
successfully complete their terms of service.
Today’s grants fall into two categories – AmeriCorps National Direct
Continuations and the AmeriCorps Education Award Program. An earlier round of
Education Award Program grants and National Direct grants for new and
recompeting programs were approved on July 11. The 5,000 positions announced
today represent a small share of the overall number of AmeriCorps positions this
year. The Corporation expects to support approximately 50,000 members in 2003,
consisting of 30,000 new positions in addition to the approximately 20,000
positions being filled this year that were approved last year.
“We are working very hard to maximize AmeriCorps enrollment while at the same
time strengthening the management of this vital program to provide valuable
service to communities across the country for many years to come,” said Rosie K.
Mauk, Director of AmeriCorps. “AmeriCorps does tremendous good in our country.
The outpouring of support for AmeriCorps is a testament to the value of this
program to the communities it serves and the Americans who want to serve their
country.”
The grants are the result of a process that began last October when
AmeriCorps issued its 2003 grant guidelines. That guidance, while maintaining
AmeriCorps’ longstanding focus on high quality programs that meet local needs,
put new emphasis in several areas including increasing volunteer mobilization,
building partnerships with community or faith-based organizations, and achieving
sustainability. Competition was particularly stiff this year as strong
applications greatly outnumbered available funds.
The grants announced today are in the following two categories:
AmeriCorps National Direct Continuation Grants
- Ten grants totaling $9,964,800 in program funding will support
approximately 1,293 AmeriCorps members (779 full-time equivalents). To see the
full list of National Direct grants,
click here.
- Grants are made directly to organizations operating in multiple states
that are continuing in the second or third year of their AmeriCorps grant.
- The organizations approved for these awards are the Arab Community Center
for Economic and Social Services, Detroit, Mich.; Arc of Spokane, Wash.;
Citizen Schools, Inc., Boston, Mass.; Civic Ventures, San Francisco, Calif.;
Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters, USA, New York, N.Y.;
National Association of Community Health Centers, Bethesda, Md.; Northeast
University Athletes in Service, Boston, Mass.; the Council of Great City
Schools, Washington, D.C.; and the University of Maryland Center on Aging,
College Park, Md.
- This is the second round of National Direct grants. Information on the
first round, which was for new and recompeting programs, is at
http://www.americorps.org/news/pr/071103.html.
AmeriCorps Education Award Program Grants
- Eight grants totaling $825,600 will support approximately 3,715 AmeriCorps
members (2,064 full-time equivalents.) To see the full list of Education Award
grants,
click here.
- The Education Award Program supports partnerships with national, state and
local nonprofit organizations. The organizations become part of the AmeriCorps
network and receive minimal administrative support while their participants
become AmeriCorps members and earn education awards upon completion of their
service.
- The organizations approved for the awards are the Boys & Girls Clubs of
America, Atlanta, Ga.; Catholic Network of Volunteer Service, Takoma Park,
Md.; National Association of Service and Conservation Corps, Washington, D.C.;
Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas; Alaska State Community
Service Commission, Anchorage, Alaska; Teach for America-Atlanta, Atlanta,
Ga.; Lincoln Action Program, Inc., Lincoln, Neb.; Cornell University REACH
(Raising Education Attainment Challenge) Fellowship Program, Ithaca, N.Y.
- This is the second round of AmeriCorps Education Award Program grants.
Information on the first round, announced on July 11, is at
http://www.americorps.org/news/pr/071103.html.
AmeriCorps members serve full- or part-time with more than 2,500 national and
local organizations. Full-time members who complete their service earn an
education award of $4,725 to pay for college, graduate school, or to pay back
student loans. Members who serve part-time receive a partial education award. In
addition to the AmeriCorps State and National grant programs, AmeriCorps also
includes AmeriCorps*NCCC, a 10-month, full-time residential program for men and
women between the ages of 18 and 24 who carry out projects in public safety,
public health, and disaster relief, and AmeriCorps*VISTA, whose members help
bring individuals and communities out of poverty by serving full-time to fight
illiteracy, improve health services, create businesses, increase housing
opportunities, or bridge the digital divide.
AmeriCorps is a national service program administered by the Corporation for
National and Community Service, which also oversees Senior Corps and Learn and
Serve America. Together, the programs of the Corporation engage more than two
million Americans each year in meeting critical needs in education, the
environment, public safety, homeland security, and other areas. The Corporation
and its programs are part of USA Freedom Corps, a White House initiative to
foster a culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility, and help all
Americans answer the President's Call to Service. For more information, visit
www.nationalservice.org.
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