U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
        Here’s how you know
    Goverment symbol**Official websites use .gov**
            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
        Lock symbol**Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
            A lock (
              A locked padlock
                 ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive
              information only on official, secure websites.
 Skip to main content JoinDonate
    About
    About
          About
        
About menu block one
  

        
        What We Do
                Our Impact
                Agency FAQs
About menu block two
  

        
        Our Team
                Careers
About menu block three
  

        
        Agency Overview
                            Budget and Performance Plans
                Disability and Accessibility
                Federal Register Notices
                Open Government
                Plain Writing
                Privacy Policy
                Strategic Plan

  

  
Serve
    Serve
          Serve
        
Serve menu block one
  

        
        AmeriCorps
                            AmeriCorps NCCC
                AmeriCorps State and National
                AmeriCorps VISTA
                AmeriCorps Seniors
                            AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent Program
                AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP
                AmeriCorps Seniors Senior Companion Program
Serve menu block two
  

        
        Volunteer
                            9/11 Day
                MLK Day
Serve menu block three
  

        
        Find Your Fit
                Serve FAQs

  

  
Partner
    Partner
          Partner
        
Partner menu block one
  

        
        How it Works
                            AmeriCorps NCCC
                AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent
                AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP
                AmeriCorps Seniors Senior Companion
                AmeriCorps State and National
                AmeriCorps VISTA
                Research and Evaluation
                Volunteer Generation Fund
Partner menu block two
  

        
        Partnerships
                Communities and Initiatives
                Funding Opportunities
Partner menu block three
  

        
        Partner FAQs

  

  
Members & Volunteers
    Members & Volunteers
          Members & Volunteers
        
Members & Volunteers menu block one
  

        
        Your Benefits
                Segal AmeriCorps Education Award
                Education Award FAQs
Members & Volunteers menu block two
  

        
        Alumni
                Members in VISTA
Members & Volunteers menu block three
  

        
        Member and Volunteer FAQs
                Safety and Security

  

  
Grantees & Sponsors
    Grantees & Sponsors
          Grantees & Sponsors
        
Grantee & Sponsors menu block one
  

        
        State Service Commissions
                State and National Direct Grantees
                State Subgrantees
                VISTA Sponsors
                Research and Evaluation Grantees
                Volunteer Generation Fund and Days of Service Grantees
Grantee & Sponsors menu block two
  

        
        RSVP Grantees
                Foster Grandparent Program Grantees
                Senior Companion Program Grantees
                Senior Demonstration Program Grantees
                NCCC Project Sponsors
Grantee & Sponsors menu block three
  

        
        Manage Your Grant
                Grantee and Sponsor FAQs

  

  
Newsroom
    Newsroom
          Newsroom
        
Newsroom menu block one
  

        
        News
                Blog
Newsroom menu block two
  

        
        Stories
                Events
Newsroom menu block three
  

        
        In the News
                Communication Resources



  
Contact
    Contact
    JoinDonate
search Breadcrumb
    Newsroom

              AmeriCorps Grants Will Place 50,000 Members Across U.S. to Drive Impact on Critical Challenges
      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:Jun 08, 2011
  

                    $216 Million to Support Organizations Using Service as a Solution to Social and Economic ProblemsNew Orleans, La. -- As thousands of service leaders and social entrepreneurs wrapped up the 2011 National Conference on Volunteering and Service here today, Corporation for National and Community Service Acting CEO Robert Velasco announced $216 million in AmeriCorps grants to strengthen the impact of more than 300 organizations across the country in tackling the most pressing challenges facing communities and the nation.The grants will support 50,000 new AmeriCorps members who will serve from coast to coast, strengthening education, providing disaster services, assisting veterans and military families, preserving the environment, expanding health services, and fostering economic opportunity.The grants carry out the vision of the bipartisan Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act and the agency's 2011-2015 Strategic Plan by driving towards greater impact on key challenges in communities and the nation. The grants target resources on a core set of critical problems and use standardized performance measures to evaluate success. A complete list of grants is available by clicking here.“At a time of great human need, AmeriCorps members are serving millions of our most vulnerable citizens and having a positive and lasting impact on the toughest challenges facing our nation,” said Robert Velasco, II, Acting CEO of CNCS. “AmeriCorps members and the millions of volunteers they mobilize are a vital resource to help local leaders meet immediate community needs and make a lasting difference.”The grants will go to a wide range of national and local nonprofit organizations, community and faith-based groups, educational institutions, and Indian Tribes. AmeriCorps members supported by these grants are projected to earn more than $140 million in Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards to help pay for college or to pay back student loans.In addition to the $216 million in competitive AmeriCorps funding, CNCS is also awarding $118 million in formula funding to Governor-appointed state service commissions and territories. Formula funds will be sub-granted this summer by commissions to organizations in their states to support additional AmeriCorps members. Together with other positions in AmeriCorps VISTA and NCCC, AmeriCorps is projected to support approximately 80,000 members this year.The current year's AmeriCorps grant cycle was highly competitive, due to the strong and growing demand by organizations seeking AmeriCorps resources and a $23 million cut in AmeriCorps grant funding over last year's level. Organizations requested nearly twice the number of grant dollars and AmeriCorps positions than could be funded."The surging demand for AmeriCorps members by organizations across the country is a testament to the value of this program and the transforming impact AmeriCorps members have on pressing challenges facing communities,” said John Gomperts, Direct of AmeriCorps. "AmeriCorps members bring the energy and talent to supercharge nonprofits so that they can increase their impact. And like serving in the military or the Peace Corps, being an AmeriCorps member is patriotic act and experience that helps to form the next generation of leaders in all sectors of society.”Interest in AmeriCorps is also surging from those eager to serve. AmeriCorps applications from individuals jumped from about 360,000 in the 2008-2009 program year to more than 536,000 last year.“These applications are a reminder that today's young people – and those young in spirit - are eager to make a difference, to have a purpose, to serve a cause larger than themselves," said Gomperts.The grants make a focused investment in the six priorities laid out in the Serve America Act of disaster services, economic opportunity, education, environmental stewardship, healthy futures, and veterans and military families. Below are some examples of the organizations receiving funds in the 2011 competition:**Disaster Services:** The American National Red Cross will support 51 AmeriCorps members to recruit and support volunteers in providing disaster services and educating citizens on emergency preparedness and response. The Partnership for Youth's AmeriCorps St. Louis Emergency Response Team, which currently is playing a critical role responding to the tornado in Joplin, Missouri, will engage 35 members in providing disaster relief in Missouri and across the country.**Economic opportunity:**Through their $8.9 million grant, YouthBuild USA, Inc. will engage 2,957 members from disadvantage circumstances in renovating houses and buildings for low-income families as they gain education and professional schools. The Local Initiatives Support Corporation's $2.15 million grant will support 240 LISC AmeriCorps members to provide employment services, financial literacy training, after-school activities and improvements to neighborhood safety.**Education:** Teach for America's $9.6 million grant will support more than 5,600 classroom teachers for under-resourced schools in 39 regions. Harlem Children's Zone Peacemaker Program will engage 135 AmeriCorps members in providing in-class and after school literacy-based and conflict resolution training for children in Harlem elementary schools. Okeene Public Schools in Oklahoma will engage 36 AmeriCorps members in providing tutoring for students during and after school each day resulting in increased academic achievement for students attending rural schools in Northwest Oklahoma. Goodwill Industries of Northern New England will engage 63 AmeriCorps members in providing mentoring and academic support services to at-risk middle and high-school students in rural communities in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.**Environmental Stewardship:** The Corps Network will engage 3,051 members in variety of community and environmental improvement projects across the U.S. while gaining valuable skills and training to increase their employment prospects. The Great Basin Institute's Nevada Conservation Corps AmeriCorps Program will engage 143 members in removing invasive species, reducing wildfire risk and carrying out other public land restoration activities. Sixteen AmeriCorps members with Save the Bay, Inc., in Rhode Island will provide hands-on environmental education programming to third grade students, and after-school and summer camp environmental education programs.**Health:** FoodCorps, Inc., a new AmeriCorps program, will engage 50 AmeriCorps members in 10 states to conduct food and nutrition education, establish or expand school garden programs; and source farm-fresh school meals for K-12 students to reduce the rate of childhood obesity in America. The Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation in Wisconsin will engage 75 AmeriCorps members across the state to recruit volunteers to address community health improvements particularly focused on reduction and prevention of substance abuse among youth. Playworks will engage 80 AmeriCorps members to lead in and after school physical education activities focused on combating child obesity.**Veterans and Military Families Veterans and Military Families:**The Westcare Foundation will engage 40 AmeriCorps members, who are veterans and members of military families, to provide housing, employment, and substance abuse services to veterans in ten states and two territories. The AMVETS Career Center in Columbus, Ohio, will engage 24 AmeriCorps members to conduct outreach to veterans to help returned veterans find employment by assessing veterans' skills and employability needs; creating career development plans and providing referrals to potential employers.The grants announced today implement Serve America Act program changes to increase AmeriCorps' impact, efficiency, and cost effectiveness. Among those are standardized national performance measures that will allow for aggregated impact reporting on how AmeriCorps is addressing national challenges that will have a ripple effect on the larger nonprofit sector, increasing the focus on outcomes and performance.The grants will continue AmeriCorps support of entrepreneurial organizations that bring innovative business-based approaches to citizen problem-solving. They will also continue AmeriCorps emphasis on expanding capacity by recruiting and managing other volunteers. Last year, AmeriCorps programs mobilized and managed 2.6 million volunteers for the organizations they serve with.In the past 17 years, more than 700,000 men and women have served in AmeriCorps, providing more than 860 million hours of service. AmeriCorps members serve with more than 14,000 nonprofit, faith-based, and community groups each year, helping them expand their reach and better meet their mission.Most of the positions announced today will be available starting in the fall. Interested individuals can learn about available opportunities and submit an online application by visiting AmeriCorps.gov.
              AmeriCorps, a federal agency, brings people together to tackle the country's most pressing challenges through national service and volunteering. AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers serve with organizations dedicated to the improvement of communities. AmeriCorps helps make service to others a cornerstone of our national culture. Learn more at AmeriCorps.gov. Back to main content Sign up to hear about our latest news, events, and opportunities.
  Sign up for our newsletter
    Footer about
  

        
        About
                            What We Do
                Our Impact
                Our Team
                Careers
                Agency OverviewFooter serve
  

        
        Serve
                            AmeriCorps
                AmeriCorps Seniors
                Volunteer
                Find Your FitFooter partner
  

        
        Partner
                            How it Works
                Funding OpportunitiesFooter Members & Volunteers
  

        
        Members & Volunteers
                            Your Benefits
                Segal AmeriCorps Education Award
                Alumni
                Safety and SecurityFooter grantees & sponsors
  

        
        Grantees & Sponsors
                            eGrants
                History Checks
                LitmosFooter newsroom
  

        
        Newsroom
                            News
                Blog
                Stories
                Events
                In the News
                Communication Resources
      Bringing Americans together to serve communities

Follow us
  
  1-800-942-2677
            
    help@americorps.gov
    USA.gov / Office of Inspector General / FOIA and Privacy Act / Federal Register notices / No FEAR Act/ Employee Whistleblower Rights / Contractor and Grantee Whistleblower Rights / Office of Special Counsel / STOCK Act / Fraud Alert

Accessibility / Privacy policy / Site map / Donate / Join

**AmeriCorps.gov**
An official website of AmeriCorps. Produced and published at taxpayer expense. 
 You are leaving AmeriCorps.gov
 The website you’re going to is not part of the AmeriCorps domain and may not be under AmeriCorps’ control. Its privacy and security practices and policies may differ from AmeriCorps’. AmeriCorps is not responsible for the link, nor does it endorse the content of the third-party website. Click on the continue button to proceed to the external website; otherwise click cancel to stay on AmeriCorps.gov.
 Cancel Continue