05/07/2025
As many of you have heard, AmeriCorps funding was drastically and abruptly cut by DOGE on April 25. Clinch-Powell and many other Tennessee not-for-profits and communities were affected.
On April 28, 14 of 21 AmeriCorps programs in Tennessee received a memo from Volunteer Tennessee stating: “Funding for your program has been terminated, effective immediately. Due to this decision by the federal government, the funding for your services has been eliminated…All of your program’s AmeriCorps service activities and member assignments related to this grant funding must stop immediately.”
Our Appalachia CARES program, which has operated with AmeriCorps funding since January 1996, was among the programs in the state that lost funding - funding that was appropriated by Congress and awarded in fiscal year 2024.
With no notice or explanation of why our program was eliminated, we had to tell 33 active members their service was terminated and rescind positions for another 30+ folks onboarding in May. Some of these members had served nine months of a 12 month position... Others had recently relocated to Tennessee and now face a loss of income, housing, and career pathways.
Members take an oath of service and enter these positions in good faith and with civic integrity to make a difference. AmeriCorps also helps them get a foot in the door of a career, pay for college, and earn household income. Appalachia CARES alumni are nurses, doctors, lawyers, engineers, executive directors, social workers, parents, teachers, veterans, contractors, park rangers, designers, and so much more.
This also directly impacts 40+ Appalachia CARES community partners across the state, as they have lost critical capacity and program support within their agencies. We are continuing to support members and sites through this gut wrenching process.
Appalachia CARES is so much more than a grant program - it's a carefully curated network of organizations and individuals with decades of community investment and knowledge, and it is just ONE of more than 1,000 programs eliminated nationwide.
We want to express the highest gratitude for all individuals who have served with us in the Appalachia CARES program over the years and remind them their service and sacrifice has made a difference and left a lasting legacy in their communities.
