Gov Evers Suing Trump Administration For Ending AmeriCorps Grants
$400 million for 32,000 AmeriCorps members at stake; 22 states join suit.
Gov. Tony Evers. File photo by Emily Hamer/Wisconsin Watch.
Gov. Tony Evers announced Wisconsin is among two dozens states that are suing the Trump administration for terminating nearly $400 million in federal grants for AmeriCorps programs.
The move shutters more than 1,000 programs and funding to support more than 32,000 AmeriCorps members and senior volunteers nationwide, according to America’s Service Commissions.
The cuts immediately eliminate many positions of about 430 AmeriCorps members currently serving in Wisconsin. Serve Wisconsin, the state’s AmeriCorps agency, recruits and trains around 800 members each year.
The move comes as the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, have moved quickly to cut government programs and workforce.
Evers slammed the cuts for programs operating under Serve Wisconsin. The move ends services at more than 300 sites across Wisconsin, including in more than half the state’s counties.
“These latest reckless Trump and Musk cuts will hurt Wisconsin’s kids who are homeless or who need tutors for math and reading, folks who are working to overcome addiction and substance use, stop work on conservation projects, as well as all of the dedicated public servants whose livelihoods are depending on this work,” Evers said in a statement.
AmeriCorps was created more than three decades ago under former President Bill Clinton. Serve Wisconsin Executive Director Jeanne Duffy said they receive roughly $14 million in federal funding each year with only four months’ worth of grant funds remaining. The cuts affect schools, nonprofit groups, health care clinics and other community partners.
“They serve in schools, helping with literacy, primarily at the third grade level. We have tutors that help in elementary schools for math and in high schools to make sure kids have the math skills to succeed in life. We have members…who help homeless and runaway youth get the services and get into safe housing. And also, primarily in the summer, we have a lot of members that work at summer camps,” Duffy said.
The move is expected to affect thousands of kids and families through loss of summer programming, including at summer camps offered by Easterseals Wisconsin. President and CEO Paul Leverenz said the nonprofit group has partnered with AmeriCorps for 21 years at its Respite Camp and Camp Wawbeek in the Wisconsin Dells.
The Respite Camp provides one staff member to up to three campers for families of individuals living with physical or developmental disabilities. Leverenz said they planned on having 13 AmeriCorps members for the summer to support counselors and expand programming offered at the camp. During the summer, he said they have a goal of serving 1,500 individuals or more at the two camps.
“Most of those families are making their vacation plans months ahead of time to plan to be able to go on the vacation, so that they know they have someplace safe for their family member to be, and that they can be appropriately involved, cared for,” Leverenz said. “As an organization, we’re certainly still committed to fulfilling those responsibilities, but without AmeriCorps members, we have to look for additional staffing to be able to do comparable work.”
A counselor sits with a child attending one of the summer camps offered by Easterseals Wisconsin. Photo courtesy of Easterseals Wisconsin
Joli Guenther, executive director at the Wisconsin Association for Homeless and Runaway Services, supports agencies providing services and shelter to minors and young adults. She said the organization received $359,500 for 17 AmeriCorps members at agencies across the state. AmeriCorps members helped with distributing 10,000 items of food, clothing and other supplies in addition to connecting youth to shelters or services.
She said they directly helped almost 650 youth in the last year, of which about 450 were able to return home or to safe housing.
United Way of Jefferson & North Walworth Counties is losing three AmeriCorps members who had helped expand programs and services. Elizabeth Ellis, the nonprofit group’s executive director, said she’s the only paid staff member.
She said AmeriCorps members recently helped organize and distribute more than 10,000 items through its Parent Perks program, which provides free diapers, clothing, shoes and other items for newborns to kids under the age of 12. They’ve also helped with other programs that help raise funding for other nonprofit groups in the community, as well as toy drives and an upcoming literacy event.
“I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it, but this is not a program I can run by myself. We’re expecting over 250 children,” Ellis said. “My AmeriCorps members are amazing people, and they have committed to this, even if they’re not AmeriCorps members anymore.”
AmeriCorps members receive around $7,000 to go to school or pay off student loans after a full year of service.
Caleb Bols had been working with AmeriCorps since January, but he had been volunteering at the United Way for a couple years prior to that. Bols said he was told to cease all work, turn in equipment and go home. He had been helping out with local events and community outreach to senior citizens who struggle with isolation.
“There’s part-time jobs always open, but it won’t be the same impact on the community,” Bols said. “Finding places that offer this kind of work, that have that magnitude of an impact on not only yourself and how you’re doing in life, but how other people are doing? That’s one in a million.”
Tony Evers to sue over Trump administration’s halt to $400M in AmeriCorps grants was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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