New Mexico Commission for Community Volunteerism: AmeriCorps Grant (Competitive Pool)

The AmeriCorps national service funding (competitive pool) is determined on the basis of a national competition and is selected by the Corporation for National & Community Service (CNCS). The New Mexico Commission for Community Volunteerism (the Commission) directs national service policy for New Mexico and directly administers funding awarded by the CNCS to support New Mexico AmeriCorps programs. The Commission works to identify proposals that New Mexico recommends for consideration and selection by CNCS. The applications submitted for the current competition are for the national competitive pool of funding. The proposals forwarded by CNCS will compete with proposals from states across the country and from U.S. territories. They will also compete with proposals from organizations that operate and provide services in more than one state (national direct organizations) for the same competitive pool of funds.

Grants will be awarded to organizations proposing to engage AmeriCorps members in evidence-based or evidence-informed interventions to strengthen communities. An AmeriCorps member is an individual who engages in community service through an approved national service position. AmeriCorps members will be recruited, trained, supervised, and managed by the funded organization. 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 is targeting AmeriCorps funds to the following six focus areas:

1. Disaster services: Grant activities will 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 cooperative agreements and FEMA mission assignments.
2. Economic Opportunity: Grants will 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.
3. Education: Grants will 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 prepare for success in post-secondary educational institutions.
4. Environmental Stewardship: Grants will support responsible stewardship of the environment, while preparing communities for challenging circumstances and helping Americans respond to and recover from disruptive life events: 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 help veterans and others learn new job skills through conservation service.
5. Healthy Futures: Grants will 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.
6. Veterans and Military Families: Grants will positively impact the quality of life of veterans and improve military family strength; increase the number of veterans, 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.

Additionally, CNCS has designated the following as priority funding issue areas (note that priority funding is not identical in all cases to the focus areas outlined above). For 2018-2019 CNCS seeks to prioritize investment of national resources in:

• Disaster services: Improving community resiliency through disaster preparation, response, recovery, and mitigation.
• Economic opportunity: Increasing economic opportunities for communities, specifically youth, both as the population served and 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: CNCS accepts one application per state that addresses a pressing challenge that the Governor wishes to solve in her or his state. A governor must apply with one or more Mayor(s) in his or her state and a minimum of two nonprofits.
• Rural intermediaries: Organizations that demonstrate measureable impact and primarily serve communities with limited resources and organizational infrastructure.
• Safer communities: Activities that focus on public safety and preventing and mitigating civil unrest and/or partnerships between law enforcement and the community.
• Evidence-based intervention planning grants: Planning grant that will develop new national service models that integrate members in innovative ways into evidence-based interventions.
• Encore programs: Programs that engage a significant number of participants age 55 or 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 general practice is to award no more than 50 member slots and at least 20 member slots to organizations receiving an AmeriCorps grant for the first time.

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

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

Match requirements:

• Fixed amount grants: There are no specific match requirements, however, CNCS does not provide all the funds needed to operate the program.
• Cost reimbursement grants: A first-time awardee is required to match at 24 percent for the first three-year funding period. Starting with year four, the match gradually increases every year to 50 percent by year ten.

Eligibility: Nonprofit organizations; institutions of higher education; local government; states; and Indian tribes. Applicants must propose an AmeriCorps program that will operate and provide services solely within the geographic borders of New Mexico. The Commission and CNCS encourage organizations that have never received AmeriCorps funding to apply.

Link: http://www.dws.state.nm.us/nmccv/Funding-Opportunities/Current-Opportunities

Note: The Notification of Intent to Apply form (required) is due on December 4, 2017. A pre-proposal conference will also be held on December 4, 2017.

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