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

Note: Submission of the Notice of Intent to Apply/Readiness Checklist and Agency-Specific W9 is required to be eligible for this competition and is due on Wednesday, October 16, 2019 by 5:00pm Mountain by email to asd.tiwaprocurement@state.nm.us.

The mission of the the Corporation for National & Community Service (CNCS) is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic participation through service and volunteering. Through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and the Volunteer Generation Fund, CNCS has helped to engage millions of citizens in meeting community and national challenges through service and volunteer action.

AmeriCorps grants are awarded to eligible 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 is targeting AmeriCorps funds to the following six focus areas:

• 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
• 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
• 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’ preparation for success in post-secondary educational institutions
• 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; and provide reforestation services after floods or fires
• Healthy Futures: Grants will provide support for activities that will address the opioid crisis; 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 with the purpose of reducing obesity
• Veterans and Military Families: Grants will 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 programs; and/or increase the number of veterans and military family members engaged in service through CNCS programs

This application is for a pool of AmeriCorps national service funding that is determined on the basis of a national competition and selected by the CNCS. The CNCS’s application is designed only to identify those applications that New Mexico recommends for consideration and ultimate selection by CNCS.

Any application is for this national competitive pool of funding. The applications forwarded will compete with applications from states across the country and from United States territories. They will also compete with applications from organizations that operate and provide services in more than one state for the same limited and extremely competitive pool of funds.

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 – as determined by the scope of the projects.

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

• Cost reimbursement: $15,479 maximum/traditional
• Fixed amount: $15,479 maximum/full time
• Professional Corps fixed amount: $1,000
• Education Award Program (EAP): $800

The general practice is to award no more than 50 member positions (slots) to organizations receiving an AmeriCorps grant for the first time. New applicants are eligible to apply for cost reimbursement and Education Award Program (EAP) grants but are not eligible to apply for full-time fixed amount grants.

Eligibility: Nonprofit organizations; states; local governments; institutions of higher education; and Indian tribes. Organizations that propose to operate in only one state must apply through the Governor appointed State or Territory Commissions.

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

This post was filed under: