Cuts Impact Omaha Student Mentoring Nonprofit at ‘Critical Time’

DOGE’s $400 million in cuts to AmeriCorps is hitting Partnership 4 Kids, an Omaha, Nebraska-based education mentoring program, hard since it relied on seven AmeriCorps volunteers to work with students and help them navigate college applications and financial aid, reports the Omaha World-Herald

“It couldn’t have happened at a more critical time,” said Deb Denbeck, president and CEO of the education mentoring program.

The organization’s seven AmeriCorps members are stationed on college campuses and in high schools and middle schools, she said. They work to form relationships with students, helping to keep them engaged in school, graduate on time and pursue careers. Depending on their roles, they help students navigate everything from college applications and financial aid to first exams and resume writing

But Denbeck learned last week that both of Partnership 4 Kids’ grants, totaling $240,000, were terminated immediately as part of the larger national grant cuts that ended support for more than 1,000 education-focused agencies across the country.