Representative Denny Heck (D-Wash.) announced this week that four organizations located in the 10th Congressional District of Washington received a total of $11.7 million in AmeriCorps funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Funding supports 1,069 AmeriCorps members working on disaster response, conservation projects, literacy tutoring, and veteran transition assistance.
“This is the time of year when many students graduate from high school and college and are unsure about what they want to do with their lives,” said Representative Heck. “As we continue to recover from the economic downturn, Washingtonians can serve their communities while receiving job training, leadership development opportunities, and access to higher education. I can’t advocate enough for young people to pursue national service as they enter the job market for the first time.”
After completing a full term of service, AmeriCorps members receive an award of $5,645 that they can use to pay for college or to pay off student loans. CNCS will provide $6,590,660 toward awards for Washington AmeriCorps members funded by these grants.
“AmeriCorps members make a powerful impact on the toughest challenges facing our nation,” said CNCS CEO Wendy Spencer. “Building on Washington’s strong tradition of neighbor helping neighbor, AmeriCorps members will improve lives and strengthen communities across Washington. While they serve others, AmeriCorps members will also expand opportunity for themselves – gaining skills and experience to jumpstart their careers.”
Statewide, Washington received a total of $15.5 million in AmeriCorps funding to support 1,180 AmeriCorps members.
The current year’s AmeriCorps grant cycle was highly competitive, due to the strong demand by organizations seeking AmeriCorps resources. The 2014 competition prioritized investments in economic opportunity, education, veterans and military families, disaster services, and continued a new initiative for governors and mayors.
AmeriCorps engages more than 75,000 members in intensive service annually to serve through nonprofit, faith-based, and community organizations at 25,000 locations across the country. These members help communities tackle pressing problems while mobilizing millions of volunteers for the organizations they serve.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the AmeriCorps program. Since 1994, more than 830,000 Americans have provided more than 1 billion hours of service addressing critical challenges from poverty and hunger to disasters and the dropout crisis.
AmeriCorps is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, the Social Innovation Fund, and the Volunteer Generation Fund, and leads the President’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve.