Approximately half of the AmeriCorps programs terminated in a controversial decision by the Trump Administration are projects that serve states and communities President Trump won in the 2024 election, according to a review of the list of terminated AmeriCorps grant programs.
CBS News has obtained the list of more than 1,000 Americorps grant programs terminated in recent weeks by the Administration.
The wide-ranging list includes a child abuse prevention organization in Missouri, tutors for children in rural Alaska, a group that provides life-saving flood relief in West Virginia and an organization that has helped provide nearly 1 million volunteer service hours in Michigan.
Some of the impacted groups told CBS News the Trump administration’s halting of some funding for AmeriCorps projects threatens the future of help in some of America’s most impoverished counties and rural areas, many of which voted overwhelmingly for Trump last year.
AmeriCorps is the federal agency that helps support and launch national service projects and volunteerism. It began in the 1960s as an offshoot of the Peace Corps and evolved in the decades since as a critical provider of funding and support to build new infrastructure in needy areas, assist with disaster relief, offer services to senior citizens, rural and inner-city health programs and education services in low socio-economic communities and cities.
Some of the organizations that have had their funding abruptly stripped by the Trump administration said the termination of grant money has caused “damage and chaos” and have “upended” the lives of participants who have been contributing to community assistance projects.
In a new lawsuit filed by some of the impacted organizations, the groups argue AmeriCorps’ full-time staff is also at risk of being decimated. The suit said the organizations “have nearly all found themselves placed on administrative leave and given layoff notices stating they will be terminated from employment effective June 24.”
The list of impacted programs obtained by CBS News shows more than 100 grants have been cut in the states with the highest poverty levels: Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Alabama.
The cuts include funding for a child abuse prevention program in Independence, Missouri and several more in California.
A $345,000 food pantry grant has been cut in Alexandria, Louisiana. A similar amount was cancelled for a rural health project in the small farm community of Lake Village, Arkansas.
CBS News has learned the reductions will impact programs that have served nearly 10,000 people in Alaska this year, including education services for children.
Katie Abbott, executive director of the Serve Alaska State Service Commission, told CBS News that “students in Sitka schools will lose their tutors and classroom support. Kids in Ouzinkie will lose their dance and culture coach.”
She continued that some “high school seniors will no longer be able to serve as AmeriCorps members in schools in order to explore and learn workforce skills and future careers.”
In Portsmouth, Ohio, Shawnee State University will lose funding for its program to support teacher education and early literacy. A university spokesperson told CBS News that they had received notification last week that it has been terminated and will not continue. The terminated grant program at Shawnee State was for nearly $756,000.
In Detroit, grant money for Americorps “urban safety” projects was also cancelled. The projects, which were coordinated with the assistance of Wayne State University included the boarding-up of vacant homes and clearing of vacant lots to improve public safety and reduce crime threats.
In a statement, Ramona Washington, the director of Wayne State University’s Urban Safety Program, said the termination of $1.3 million in funding “halted vital outreach and community support efforts carried out by WSU faculty, staff, students, and AmeriCorps members.”
“Our students, who serve as AmeriCorps members, have helped lead community-engaged research and service-learning initiatives that improve urban public safety and public health. Without this support, the progress we’ve made in building safer, healthier neighborhoods is at serious risk,” Washington said.
A Wayne State University spokesperson told CBS News the organization’s Americorps activities also included “outreach in Detroit Police Precincts to connect with victims of domestic violence and assist with navigating the process of personal protection orders.”
The cuts also include money for a Boys and Girls Club program in West Palm Beach, Florida, which is home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, according to the list obtained by CBS News from a source familiar with the cuts.
The High Rocks Educational Corporation in Lewisburg, West Virginia also lost AmeriCorps funding. An organization spokeswoman told CBS News the cuts could have a dramatic impact on its ability to help young people opportunities in the state and could exacerbate the declining youth population in the Mountain State.
The organization was also vital in helping Greenbrier County respond to and recover from the calamitous flooding in White Sulpher Springs in 2016. The list obtained by CBS News showed High Rocks was receiving a $1.4 million dollar grant through an AmeriCorps program. West Virginia has some of the neediest communities and highest per capita usage of AmeriCorps programs and funds, according to multiple sources.
There have been at least two lawsuits filed over the terminations. A handful of impacted organizations and nonprofits have filed a federal civil lawsuit in Maryland seeking a court order to halt the dismantling of AmeriCorps.
One of the organizations that filed the suit, the Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, said it had received funding for 26 years to help respond to a “critical teacher shortage” in one of the nation’s poorest regions. CBS News has learned the program was receiving a $395,621 grant.
In the civil lawsuit, some of the grant recipients argue, “These sweeping actions have forced the early dismissal of participants, halted ongoing projects at organizations across the country, and jeopardized critical support for communities nationwide, with particularly severe impacts on rural areas where AmeriCorps programs have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support.”
Nearly two dozen state attorneys general, including Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, have also filed a separate federal lawsuit to avert the cutting of AmeriCorps.
According to published reports, a White House spokeswoman defended the reductions at AmeriCorps, saying last week that “AmeriCorps has failed eight consecutive audits and is entrusted with over $1 billion in taxpayer dollars every year. It is a target-rich environment for President Trump’s agenda to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.”
AmeriCorps administrators did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the list of programs cut.
