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AmeriCorps funding essential to state’s future

By Staff | Oct 25, 2024

When I graduated college in 2020, I served in AmeriCorps with Bethlehem Farm in Summers County, repairing homes, teaching sustainable practices and building relationships. The 400-plus young people coming through each year walk away with practical life skills, as well as a deeper appreciation of Appalachian culture. Neighbors benefit from warmer, safe, dry housing, as well as meaningful community.

Congress is considering spending proposals that could devastate the nonprofit sector in West Virginia that relies on AmeriCorps funding to power their programs. Some would cut AmeriCorps funding in West Virginia by up to 90 percent. AmeriCorps provides the most return on investment of any federal program. Each dollar invested generates as much as $34.26 in communities that need it most. Thousands of AmeriCorps members across West Virginia over the past 30 years have taught and tutored students, helped reintegrate our veterans into civilian life, helped communities recover from natural disasters and so much more.

I stayed at Bethlehem Farm for an additional two years, after two AmeriCorps service terms. I moved to Shepherdstown this past summer to pursue a master’s degree in Appalachian Studies at Shepherd University. Through the West Virginia AmeriCorps Tuition Waiver, my AmeriCorps service grants me two years of schooling at an in-state public school. Young people crave meaningful opportunities to serve their communities, to pursue education, and to see a viable path to stay in West Virginia. AmeriCorps brought me to West Virginia and has encouraged me to make this state my home.

I urge Senators Capito and Manchin and Representatives Miller and Mooney to increase support for AmeriCorps in West Virginia – not reduce it. Help us to care for our common home!

Molly Sutter, of Shepherdstown