1. United States
2. Okla.
3. Letter

For decades, AmeriCorps members have responded to our country's most immediate and critical needs. They are the “people power” that local nonprofit, faith-based, and community organizations rely on to deliver services and make a difference in local communities. While helping others, AmeriCorps members develop in-demand job skills, preparing a cohort of Americans to succeed in the workforce, and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers experience a decrease in isolation and loneliness. Despite being a model of efficient and effective government, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has taken steps to dismantle AmeriCorps. Since Wednesday, April 16th, DOGE has: -Issued stop work orders to 750 AmeriCorps NCCC and FEMA Corps members, abruptly ending their service terms with no notice. -Dismissed nearly 85% of AmeriCorps agency staff, disrupting key functions such as program operations, member enrollment and deployment, and grant disbursement. -Terminated close to $400 million in grant funding, a move that will impact over 1,000 local and community organizations and prematurely end the service of over 32,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers. These actions will leave communities across the country without critical services and over 32,000 service members will be forced to exit the program, losing their AmeriCorps living allowances, benefits, and workforce development opportunities.   AmeriCorps funds respond to local needs and are largely administered by states, not the federal government, to keep state and local priorities front and center. At a time when states are experiencing significant natural disasters, increasing costs stemming from increased social service needs, workforce gaps, and more, AmeriCorps delivers urgently needed resources to support communities across the country. This is another gross overstep of DOGE. We didn’t even elect this man. How come he is the one calling the shots and destroying lovely programs like the library and americorps? That’s CRAZY pants and you should be embarrassed, angry and taking action to stop this. It’s time to quit pandering to a party line and realize that this is going to affect all Americans negatively.