AmeriCorps Announces Funding Opportunities

Posted by on August 5, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 2, 2005
CONTACT: Sandy Scott
[email protected]
(202) 606-6724

AmeriCorps Announces Funding Opportunities for Fiscal Year 2006

(Washington D.C.) — The Corporation for National and Community Service announced today that approximately $69.2 million in competitive funding is expected to be available to support nonprofit organizations that are new to AmeriCorps or that have previously completed a three-year grant cycle with the national service program. An additional $101 million is expected to be available to support continuation grants for organizations in the second and third years of the three-year AmeriCorps grant cycle. Actual funding will depend on final Congressional approval of AmeriCorps’ fiscal year 2006 budget.

The new and continuation grants will support a total of approximately 56,000 AmeriCorps members. If all those members complete their terms of service, they collectively will be eligible to receive $157 million in AmeriCorps Education Awards to pay for college or to pay back student loans.

The announcement was made on the eve of the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, which will bring nearly 3,000 leaders of America’s volunteer and service sector to Washington August 4-6 to gain skills and develop strategies to engage more Americans more effectively in volunteer service to meet pressing social needs. The conference is co-convened by the Corporation for National and Community Service and Points of Light Foundation. In conjunction with the National Conference, more than 400 leaders of AmeriCorps programs and governor-appointed state service commissions will take part in their annual grantees meeting.

"AmeriCorps offers community organizations the opportunity to engage motivated citizens, especially youth, in intense service to their social mission in exchange for an education award," said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers AmeriCorps. "This is a great deal for the organization, for the community, and for the AmeriCorps member, and we hope to get lots of strong applications."

AmeriCorps provides human and other resources to local and national nonprofit organizations to build their capacity to meet pressing local needs in education, the environment, public safety, homeland security, and other critical areas. Grants support organizations that use volunteer service as a strategy for addressing needs while also fostering in participants an ethic of civic responsibility.

The Notice of Funding Opportunity is the first to be offered by the AmeriCorps program since it began in 1994. In previous years, AmeriCorps presented grant guidelines to prospective grant applicants; over the past 18 months, however, AmeriCorps undertook an extensive rulemaking process by which it formalized the criteria by which grantees are selected, and the regulations by which grantees must abide. The new rules enable an earlier, more streamlined, and more consistent presentation of the regulations governing the program and thus provide greater predictability for grantees over the long term.

"This notice represents a significant step forward after an extensive collaborative effort to strengthen AmeriCorps and make it more predictable and consistent for grantees," said Rosie Mauk, Director of AmeriCorps. "Because of the new AmeriCorps rule, prospective grantees have a far clearer sense of our expectations, our requirements, and our funding priorities. And, they have it much earlier in the process than ever before."

Approximately $43 million of the $69.2 million for new and recompeting groups will be available under the States and Territories Competitive Program, which is administered by Governor-appointed state service commissions in nearly every state and in a number of U.S. territories. An additional $20 million is expected to be awarded directly by the Corporation to new and recompeting organizations that operate in two or more states. The remaining $6.2 million of competitive funds will be awarded through a number of other grant programs, including the Education Award Program, the National Professional Corps Program, and the Indian Tribes Program. In all, the Corporation anticipates that at least 15% of the new competitive funding – or $10.5 million – will support organizations, both faith-based and secular, that have not received AmeriCorps operational funding for the past five years.

For the fiscal year 2006 competition, the Corporation will give special consideration to applicants who address four strategic focus areas that meet critical needs of our nation. The four areas – serving disadvantaged youth, mobilizing community volunteers, engaging Baby Boomers in service, and building citizenship among students – are defined broadly to build upon the existing work of state service commissions, territories, national and local nonprofit groups, institutions of higher education, Indian tribes, and local communities.

In return for completing his or her term of service, each AmeriCorps member is entitled to receive an AmeriCorps Education Award to pay for college or to pay back qualified student loans. Currently, the award stands at $4,725 for a year of full-time service, and is pro-rated according to the actual amount of time served.

The application deadline for most programs is mid-February 2006. Grant announcements are expected to be made by the end of May 2006. For more information or to read the Notice of Funding Opportunity, go to <a href="http://www.americorps.gov">http://www.americorps.gov</a>.

The Corporation for National and Community Service provides opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country through three programs: Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America. Together with the USA Freedom Corps, the Corporation is working to build a culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility in America. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.nationalservice.gov">http://www.nationalservice.gov</a>.