The DOGE Impact Tracker

Among the many rural communities around the country that were impacted by DOGE cuts to Americorps were several in South Dakota, where the Mahpiya Luta school and Pine Ridge Reservation saw funding cuts, reports Chalkbeat:

By offering job opportunities to people in the local community, AmeriCorps grants allowed Mahpiya Luta students to benefit from one-on-one mentorship from young adults on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Around 53% of children on the Pine Ridge Reservation live below the poverty line, according to 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

“It’s super important for kids, especially kids in a setting like ours, that they’re seeing adults who look like them, who come from where they come from,” [Mahypiya Luta superintendent Moira] Coomes said. “So that they see that as something they can aspire to.”

In the fall, Mahpiya Luta is hoping to find the money to hire at least kindergarten and first grade aides in the absence of grant funding, but without federal funding, the school’s ability to provide robust in-classroom support and after-school programming will be limited. Giorlando is still searching for alternative means of funding to help fill the void left by AmeriCorps cuts, but he noted that in rural communities, there are limited sources.

“Those are just holes that will not get filled,” Coomes said.

Afterschool and summer programs around the country may have to cut back hours or shut down due to massive cuts to volunteer programs like AmeriCorps, reports Kiplinger. 

In the wake of a lawsuit filed by two dozen states and the District of Columbia, a judge ordered the Trump administration to restore funding to AmeriCorps grants in those states. But the 26 states that did not participate in the lawsuit will feel the impact: 

America’s Service Commissions said that the funding rollback would terminate the jobs of 32,000 volunteers nationwide and force as many as 1,000 important programs to shut down.

One of the organizations impacted by the mass cuts was Flipside AmeriCorps, a Marion County-based community program that provided critical afterschool support and mentorship to middle school students in West Virginia.

“We have other grant funding available to keep the Flipside Afterschool program operational through the end of the school year,” the program shared in a release. “That’s not the case at many programs across the state or country.”

After DOGE canceled almost $400 million in AmeriCorps grants, the free after-school program Aspire Afterschool Learning in northern Virginia had to lay off teachers and said it would be forced to serve as many as 50 fewer students per year, reports The Washington Post:

[Andrew] Gelsinger sat in the classroom with his students, some of them weeping, as they were told they would not be able to come back to Aspire Afterschool Learning to start their homework, grab a snack or play volleyball.

Just a few days later, Gelsinger’s bosses tapped into surplus funds to bring him and most other teachers back through the summer. How much the nonprofit’s budget could stretch after that, though, was uncertain…

The Arlington parents who send their children to the nonprofit — at no cost — are the nurses, day laborers and janitors who make this community function for everyone else. Many of them can’t afford tutors or summer camps. In some cases, recently arrived immigrant parents rely on Aspire’s teachers to help their children pick up English.

After  DOGE cut $400 million in AmeriCorps grants, nonprofits in Indianapolis are feeling the squeeze, reports WRTV:

“When we lose that funding, we lose the support that provides that safe place for kids,” Maggie A. Lewis, CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Indianapolis, stated.

With the funding cuts, the organization is feeling the effects.

“We’ve lost the funding, so we are making adjustments now. Our staff builds vital relationships with our youth every day,” Lewis added.

The repercussions of the cuts are stark. Staff members say they are now tasked with taking on the roles of multiple people to ensure that children receive the attention and support they need, as families share their concerns.

Due to DOGE cuts to AmeriCorps, Kansas will lose over $4.5 million in funding and 375 staff members employed by organizations such as the Kansas State Department of Education in Topeka and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Manhattan and Lawrence, according to the United Way of Kaw Valley.

Jessica Lehnherr, president and CEO of the United Way of Kaw Valley, tells KSNT News that she is wondering how they’ll be able to support numerous services without a new round of funding:

“So many rely on our nonprofit sector to help provide for them in times of need. And not only that, also helping with education and in our educational system. And if we want families to be able to continue to work, we need to help support them while they are working by having affordable childcare.” 

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.