While the Trump administration has announced workforce reductions in the federal AmeriCorps program, the ten AmeriCorps volunteers in Sitka are not affected, local Program Director Sarah Lawrie said today.
Lawrie said the longstanding volunteer roles AmeriCorps volunteers play in Sitka are not affected by this week's federal reductions in force because the Sitka AmeriCorps program is administered at the state level, not the federal level.
Cuts to AmeriCorps are aimed at the federal agency's National Civilian Community Corps program that’s “almost exclusively federally funded and operated” out of Washington, D.C., Lawrie said.
The AmeriCorps NCCC program provides volunteers for entities such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Forest Service, she explained.
Meanwhile, the State of Alaska administers the AmeriCorps program for Sitka through the Serve Alaska Commission. The state commission is funded by annual grants from the federal AmeriCorps agency.
As of today, the state commission has no plans for its current AmeriCorps positions to be terminated, Lawrie said.
“That’s the messaging that we’re getting from the upper echelons about the current situation,” Lawrie said. “That does not mean things will not change, but as of today, we’re still good, at least through the end of this term for the current members who are currently serving.”
The ten volunteers in Sitka’s “multi-focus” AmeriCorps program this year have positions in the Sitka School District, Mt. Edgecumbe High School and various nonprofit organizations, Lawrie said.
Some of those positions will end in late May, and some will end in late July, Lawrie said.
While the volunteers can keep their jobs for now, “we cannot be naive as to what might be coming,” Lawrie said. “Right now the focus of the Department of Government Efficiency is on staffing and reductions in force, and not grant-making,”
Lawrie said that her program, including her position as director, is funded by the annual AmeriCorps grants.
Lawrie said grant funding for her volunteer program is uncertain.
“It's literally just a day-by-day, you know, ‘What spotlight has DOGE decided to shine today?’”
“This would be a very good time for people to reach out to their congresspeople and, you know, share stories about how great AmeriCorps is in Sitka, and how wonderful the members are, and the personal experience with the impact that they have on the community,” Lawrie said.
