To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Save the Americorps NCCC Program
Re-evaluate the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill in order to maintain the funding for the Americorps National Service Program.
Why is this important?
The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill for the 2016 fiscal year has proposed a number of changes in order to balance and maintain the house budget for the upcoming year. However, there are several concerning budget cuts within this bill, including a massive funding cut to the National Corporation for Community Service which funds the National Volunteer Program Americorps; first signed into legislature by Bill Clinton in 1993. Primarily, the cuts, which will reduce the Corporation's funding to a fifth of what it was in 2015, will result in the termination of a massive number of Americorps's programs and the complete closing of one of its most prominent programs; The National Civilian Community Corps, or NCCC.
As an alumni of the NCCC and one of Americorps State programs, these initiatives mean a lot to me and the alumni of the program and they mean a lot to all the communities across the country they have served. For wages less than the national minimum, these Corps Members have put time into helping Non-Profits all across America with labor of no cost to them. Recently, the program has provided aid to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, providing young new faces in the area of disaster and massively expediting the recovery process for disasters like Hurricane Katrina and Super Storm Sandy which are both still far from completion.
In turn, the program gives individuals a chance to receive new skills, experiences, and a modest scholarship to allow them a boost in pursuing their education. This is a program that benefits all people involved in it, and the money received from cutting it is far less than the cost it will take to replace the thousands upon thousands of Corp Members it will displace. To cut the Americorps programs is just an ill-advised idea with no consideration for the future and defecits in labor it will cause. Please tell Congress that these programs are wanted and necessary for our country. Without them, many Non-Profits across America would've gone under by this time. NCCC in particular was one of the very first organizations on the ground in Hurricane Katrina and became a crucial asset to the recovery effort from the storm.
As an alumni, I can personally attest to the experiences I had in NCCC. I met people I would know my entire life, helped people who had lost everything in Super Storm Sandy, went to places and experienced things I couldn't have otherwise, and most of all, it put me on track to the successful career I have now. If anything, Americorps should he receiving a budget increase as it's been facing shortages and deficits in it's recent years as it has struggled to engage even more individuals.
Saving Americorps is a move to saving this Nation's devotion to helping one another in our times of need. Tell Congress this budget cut is foolish, pointless, and an entiely unsustainable move that is only considering the present instead of the future.
As an alumni of the NCCC and one of Americorps State programs, these initiatives mean a lot to me and the alumni of the program and they mean a lot to all the communities across the country they have served. For wages less than the national minimum, these Corps Members have put time into helping Non-Profits all across America with labor of no cost to them. Recently, the program has provided aid to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, providing young new faces in the area of disaster and massively expediting the recovery process for disasters like Hurricane Katrina and Super Storm Sandy which are both still far from completion.
In turn, the program gives individuals a chance to receive new skills, experiences, and a modest scholarship to allow them a boost in pursuing their education. This is a program that benefits all people involved in it, and the money received from cutting it is far less than the cost it will take to replace the thousands upon thousands of Corp Members it will displace. To cut the Americorps programs is just an ill-advised idea with no consideration for the future and defecits in labor it will cause. Please tell Congress that these programs are wanted and necessary for our country. Without them, many Non-Profits across America would've gone under by this time. NCCC in particular was one of the very first organizations on the ground in Hurricane Katrina and became a crucial asset to the recovery effort from the storm.
As an alumni, I can personally attest to the experiences I had in NCCC. I met people I would know my entire life, helped people who had lost everything in Super Storm Sandy, went to places and experienced things I couldn't have otherwise, and most of all, it put me on track to the successful career I have now. If anything, Americorps should he receiving a budget increase as it's been facing shortages and deficits in it's recent years as it has struggled to engage even more individuals.
Saving Americorps is a move to saving this Nation's devotion to helping one another in our times of need. Tell Congress this budget cut is foolish, pointless, and an entiely unsustainable move that is only considering the present instead of the future.