AmeriCorps and its affiliated programs are continuing to recover from last year's funding crisis with a bigger budget nationwide, but membership in Rhode Island remains stagnant.
Nationally, AmeriCorps membership has grown to 75,000, a record high since the program's inception in 1993, said Sandy Scott, spokesperson for AmeriCorps. Bipartisan support in Congress led to a large funding increase this year, Scott said.
AmeriCorps is a network of national service programs that focus on meeting critical needs in areas including education, public safety, health and the environment. Its main purpose is to provide manpower to existing non-profit and community service organizations. After successfully completing a term of service, members enrolled in the National Service Trust are eligible to receive an education award which can be used at qualified institutions. One year of full-time service corresponds to an education award of $4,725, while shorter terms correspond to smaller awards, according to the AmeriCorps Web site.
Prior to 2003, Rhode Island AmeriCorps received about $3 million in federal funds and supported 12 programs, said Rick Benjamin, acting co-executive director of the Rhode Island Service Alliance. But budget cuts in Washington, D.C., meant that during 2003, the state's AmeriCorps funding could support only three programs, Benjamin said. AmeriCorps in Rhode Island currently has approximately $2.3 million in federal money, which supports eight programs, he said.
The Rhode Island chapter of Campus Compact administers all AmeriCorps positions for students currently enrolled at Brown who want to work in the program part-time. Brown had 20 slots this year and last year for students wishing to serve as corps members, said Claudia DeCesare, assistant director of health programs at the Swearer Center.
DeCesare, who also coordinates off-campus work-study and AmeriCorps for the University, said she has had to turn interested students down in the past. "There was a time last year when it was questionable - we weren't really sure if the programs were going to be able to continue," she said.
"I don't publicize it far and wide, because I like to make it available first to students who are eligible for work study, so they can use their hours to put toward their 300-hour obligation to AmeriCorps," DeCesare added. "This is for off-campus work-study only."
Maggie Grove, executive director of Rhode Island Campus Compact, runs Scholarships for Service, a part-time AmeriCorps program accessible for students enrolled in college. Grove said because the program's current grant was awarded under the administration of President George W. Bush, she expects the level of funding to remain stable. Campus Compact is a collaboration of more than 900 universities and college presidents dedicated to advocating the civic duties of higher education. President Ruth Simmons is a member of Campus Compact.
Last year, AmeriCorps membership was capped at 50,000, Scott said. "We had a difficult year in 2003, and we were very grateful to turn around very quickly with a record budget," he said. "We believe that was a sign of the growing recognition of the value of AmeriCorps to communities and to our nation."
City Year, an affiliated program focused on sending volunteers to urban environments, has suffered huge setbacks after the budget cuts in the summer of 2003, said Elizabeth Winangun, recruitment director of Rhode Island City Year. The organization had only 40 positions funded in 2004 and 2003, a sharp decrease from the previous number of 69, Winangun said.
Despite overall AmeriCorps growth, Winangun said she believes City Year will suffer in the long term because of Bush's emphasis on channeling federal funds to faith-based groups. "Bush prefers funding faith-based organizations, so that takes away from organizations that may have been funded for a long time, but aren't faith-based," she said.
"I find that a lot of faith-based organizations have AmeriCorps funding which they didn't have before, which is taking away from organizations who have a record of success, and may instead be going to some programs who don't have experience running AmeriCorps programs," Winangun said.
Benjamin acknowledged that the emphasis of national community service has changed, but he pointed out that the one faith-based AmeriCorps program running in Rhode Island ended this year. The Bush administration favors programs that mirror its priorities, he said, not specifically faith-based programs.
"After the pause, when funding was restored, it was tied to things like homeland security," Benjamin said.
Nationally, Scott said, AmeriCorps is one of the largest employers of college graduates. "Since Sept. 11 we've seen a surge of interest in AmeriCorps on college campuses," he said. "We're grateful so many college graduates have answered the call to service."
