Idaho Receives More than $1.4 Million in Funding for AmeriCorps Programs

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: July 28, 2021
Media Contact: Renee Bade, Renee.Bade@labor.idaho.gov

Serve Idaho, the Governor’s Commission on Service and Volunteerism has received a $1,409,832 grant from the federal AmeriCorps to fund Idaho AmeriCorps programs in 2021-2022. The grants will support the service of 209 AmeriCorps members statewide. AmeriCorps members give a year of intensive service, on a full-time or part-time basis.

Grants have been awarded to:

  • Idaho State University – Idaho Health Corps AmeriCorps Program
    $620,854 to fund 94 AmeriCorps members who will address health needs of Idaho’s low-income children and families in rural underserved areas of Idaho by providing health screenings and education.
  • Student Conservation Association – Student Conservation Association Idaho AmeriCorps Program
    $145,800 to fund 18 AmeriCorps members working full-time from May through October providing environmental conservation, natural resource protection, community stewardship and workforce development on public lands throughout Idaho.
  • Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute – Palouse-Clearwater Environmental AmeriCorps Program
    $293,400 to fund 18 AmeriCorps members who will be placed on projects providing environmental education to Idahoans and conducting environmental restoration on Idaho lands.
  • University of Idaho Extension – 4-H Youth Development Program
    $310,778 to fund 40 AmeriCorps members who will work with 4-H extension offices in 38 counties to improve academic engagement or social emotional-skills in youth aged 5-18 years.
  • Teach for America
  • $39,000 to fund 39 AmeriCorps members who will serve as high-quality educators for two years in schools in southwestern Idaho.

AmeriCorps members receive a modest living stipend and education award that can be used to pay for college or to pay back qualified student loans. Members tutor and mentor children, support veterans and military families, provide health services, restore the environment, respond to disasters, increase economic opportunity and recruit and manage volunteers. In 2020, AmeriCorps committed more than $4.5 million to support Idaho communities through national service initiatives. This federal investment leveraged more than $2.8 million in other resources to strengthen community impact, build local support and increase return on taxpayer dollars.

Serve Idaho is a division of the Idaho Department of Labor. The commission administers Idaho’s AmeriCorps programs. Serve Idaho is funded in part by the federal AmeriCorps and the Idaho Department of Labor.

More information about Serve Idaho and AmeriCorps service opportunities is at serveidaho.gov.

— end —