S.C. nonprofits brace for impacts of AmeriCorps cuts
COLUMBIA, S.C. - AmeriCorps and South Carolina nonprofit organizations are taking a hit after the Department of Government Efficiency announced funding cuts.
According to nonprofit officials, 18 subgrants were eliminated due to DOGE cuts. Officials are still trying to figure out the exact dollar amount that will be lost, but Americorps federal officials notified some S.C. non-profit leaders that 90% of subgrant portfolios would be eliminated immediately.
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“These programs have been around for decades, and within a day they have been removed,” said Henry Well, CEO and president of the United Way Association of South Carolina. “To be quite transparent, I think myself and a lot of my staff are still in shock because we have not worked in a world without AmeriCorps and these programs,”
A total of 18 organizations throughout South Carolina were impacted.
Around 300 Americorps throughout South Carolina were also let go.
AmeriCorps is a domestic Peace Corps that funds projects covering a range of needs, including financial literacy and environmental issues.
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Programs like United Way’s Midland Reading Consortium were funded by AmeriCorps. Through the program, Americorps worked in schools to help increase students’ reading levels. But with funding cuts, the program and the who ed it are gone.
“We know that there are going to be impacts. They may not be seen today, but we will see them in the near future and long term because these needs are no longer being met,” Wells said.
Right now, nonprofits are in response mode, trying to figure out how to move forward.
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“These are huge setback(s) for all of these organizations, and we’re in the process of convening a group of all of our partners to see how we could begin to rebuild and build back these amazing programs,” Wells said.
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