Corporation for National and Community Service: AmeriCorps State and National Grants

The mission of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic participation through service and volunteering. AmeriCorps grants are awarded to organizations proposing to engage AmeriCorps members in evidence-based or evidence-informed interventions/practices to strengthen communities. An AmeriCorps member is an individual who engages in community service through an approved national service position. Members may receive a living allowance and other benefits while serving. Upon successful completion of their service, members earn a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award from the National Service Trust that members can use to pay for higher education expenses or apply to qualified student loans.

CNCS has targeted AmeriCorps funds to the following focus areas:

• Disaster Services: Grants provide support to increase the preparedness of individuals for disasters, improve individuals’ readiness to respond to disasters, help individuals recover from disasters, and/or help individuals mitigate disasters. Grantees also have the ability to respond to national disasters under CNCS cooperative agreements and FEMA mission assignments.
• Economic Opportunity: Grants provide support and/or facilitate access to services and resources that contribute to the improved economic well-being and security of economically disadvantaged people; help economically disadvantaged people to have improved access to services that enhance financial literacy; transition into or remain in safe, healthy, affordable housing; and/or have improved employability leading to increased success in becoming employed.
• Education: Grants provide support and/or facilitate access to services and resources that contribute to improved educational outcomes for economically disadvantaged children; improved school readiness for economically disadvantaged young children; improved educational and behavioral outcomes of students in low-achieving elementary, middle, and high schools; and/or support economically disadvantaged students to prepare for success in post-secondary educational institutions.
• Environmental Stewardship: Grants support responsible stewardship of the environment, while preparing communities for challenging circumstances and helping Americans respond to and recover from disruptive life events, including programs that conserve natural habitats; protect clean air and water; maintain public lands; support wildland fire mitigation; cultivate individual and community self-sufficiency; provide reforestation services after floods or fires; and more. AmeriCorps programs support activities, such as conservation and fire corps, which may also help veterans and others learn new job skills through conservation service.
• Healthy Futures: Grants support activities that will improve access to primary and preventive health care for communities served by CNCS-supported programs; increase seniors’ ability to remain in their own homes with the same or improved quality of life for as long as possible; and/or increase physical activity and improve nutrition in youth with the purpose of reducing childhood obesity.
• Veterans and Military Families: Grants positively impact the quality of life of veterans and improve military family strength; increase the number of veterans, wounded warriors, military service members, and their families served by CNCS-supported programs; and/or increase the number of veterans and military family members engaged in service through CNCS-supported programs.

In the 2018 AmeriCorps competition, CNCS seeks to prioritize the investment of national service resources in:

• Disaster Services: Improving community resiliency through disaster preparation, response, recovery, and mitigation
• Economic Opportunity: Increasing economic opportunities for communities by engaging opportunity youth, either as the population served and/or as AmeriCorps members to prepare them for the workforce
• Education: Improving student academic performance in Science, Technology, Engineering, and/or Mathematics (STEM)
• Healthy Futures: Reducing and/or preventing prescription drug and opioid abuse
• Veterans and Military Families: Positively impacting the quality of life of veterans and improving military family strength • Governor and Mayor Initiatives
• Rural intermediaries: Organizations that demonstrate measurable impact and primarily serve communities with limited resources and organizational infrastructure
• Safer Communities: Programs that focus on public safety, preventing and mitigating civil unrest, and/or partnerships between law enforcement and the community
• Evidence Based Intervention Planning Grants
• Encore Programs: Programs that engage Americans age 55 and older

Amount: Grant awards have two components: Operating funds and AmeriCorps member positions. Grant award amounts vary – both in the level of operating funds and in the type and amount of AmeriCorps Member positions.

The Maximum Costs per Member Service Year (MSY) are as follows:

• Cost reimbursement: $14,932 maximum
• Fixed amount: $13,430 maximum

The general practice is to award at least 20 member positions (slots) but no more than 50 member positions (slots) to organizations receiving an AmeriCorps grant for the first time.

Eligibility: Nonprofit organizations; states; local governments; institutions of higher education; and Indian tribes. Organizations must apply to operate in more than one state.

Link: http://bit.ly/2zmwgXQ

Note: Organizations that propose to operate in only one state must apply through the Governor-appointed State or Territory Commissions. Each state and territory administers its own selection process and puts forward to CNCS the applicants it selects to compete for funding. State applicants must contact their State Commissions to learn about their state or territory processes and deadlines. The State Commission for New Mexico is the New Mexico Commission for Community Volunteerism: https://www.dws.state.nm.us/nmccv/Funding-Opportunities/Funding-Overview

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