Federal grants for all Serve Wisconsin AmeriCorps programs will be terminated immediately, Gov. Tony Evers’ office said.
Serve Wisconsin is Wisconsin’s AmeriCorps agency and state Board for National and Community Service. It administers federal AmeriCorps funding to organizations in the state. The Trump Administration’s funding cuts to AmeriCorps will cause services to end at about 300 sites across Wisconsin, according to a news release from Evers’ office.
“We were appalled by the immediate and illegal termination of the federal grants for all 25 of the AmeriCorps programs and Volunteer Generation Fund Grants whose funds are administered by Serve Wisconsin without any warning, causing incredible upheaval for programs and AmeriCorps members serving at hundreds of sites across Wisconsin,” said Jeanne Duffy, executive director for Serve Wisconsin.
In September, Serve Wisconsin announced it had received $12.8 million in AmeriCorps funding for 875 members.
Many AmeriCorps members serve in schools, medical clinics, nonprofit organizations or local government offices. These AmeriCorps members provide literacy and math tutoring, substance use recovery coaching, support for youth who are homeless and other services. Many AmeriCorps members receive living stipends during their period of service. AmeriCorps was founded in 1993.
In southeastern Wisconsin, some AmeriCorps programs that could close, according to Evers’ office, include:
- Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee’s ClubCorps
- College Possible Milwaukee
- LibraryCorps
- Marquette University’s 414 Fellows
- Milwaukee Justice Center’s MJC AmeriCorps
- Public Allies Wisconsin
- Racine Zoo AmeriCorps Program
- Teach for America Milwaukee
Statewide programs with a presence in southeastern Wisconsin are also at risk, including:
- Wisconsin Association of Free and Charitable Clinics
- University of Wisconsin System’s Wisconsin 4-H Expanding Access
- Wisconsin Association for Homeless and Runaway Services
- Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Farm to School
- Wisconsin Math Corps
- WisCorps
Duffy said the loss of these services “will have detrimental impacts for thousands of students finishing the school year, as well as people in recovery from substance addiction, homeless youth, individuals with disabilities, people accessing services at health clinics, and those served by hundreds of nonprofit organizations throughout Wisconsin.”
“These terminations are also causing dramatic upheaval in the lives of the hundreds of AmeriCorps members that had dedicated a year of their life to service, losing access to their living allowance that may have been their only source of income and facing immediate financial crises around paying for housing and living expenses,” Duffy said.
On Tuesday, Evers joined 24 states to file a lawsuit suing the Trump administration over the funding cuts. The lawsuit states that the Trump administration’s effort to defund AmeriCorps programs defy constitutional separation of powers. Congress created and funds AmeriCorps.
“These latest reckless Trump and (Elon) 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.
State superintendent Jill Underly also criticized the Trump Administration’s cuts to AmeriCorps funding, which she said will have consequences for students, educators and schools across Wisconsin.
“At a time when we are urgently working to improve early literacy and close opportunity gaps, AmeriCorps has been a vital partner — delivering critical tutoring and literacy support that have helped countless young learners succeed,” Underly said in a news release. “Just as importantly, AmeriCorps has helped grow out-of-school programs that provide students with safe, supportive and engaging environments beyond the school day.”
