Idaho awarded more than $4.3 million in funding for AmeriCorps programs

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) - Serve Idaho recently received a $4,339,065 grant to fund the AmeriCorps programs in Idaho from 2023 to 2024.

Nearly 370 AmeriCorps members will be supporting efforts to provide communities with low-income access to health care, education and mental health services, and serving on environmental education and restoration projects throughout Idaho.

AmeriCorps members give a year of intensive service on a full-time or part-time basis. Idaho’s AmeriCorps programs are funded by the federal agency AmeriCorps through Serve Idaho, the Governor’s Commission on Service and Volunteerism.

Grants have been awarded to:

• Idaho State University – Idaho HealthCorps AmeriCorps Program
  $903,110 to fund 142 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.
• Idaho State University – Gem State Public Health
  $1,653,120 to fund 82 AmeriCorps members to expand and enhance community partnerships in an effort to increase mental health services offered and increase the number of individuals trained as suicide prevention gatekeepers.
• Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute - Palouse-Clearwater Environmental AmeriCorps Program
  $340,717 to fund 14 AmeriCorps members who will be placed on projects providing environmental education to Idahoans and conducting environmental restoration on Idaho lands.
• Reading & Math Inc. – Idaho Reading Corps
  $603,821 to fund 30 AmeriCorps members who will provide reading intervention to elementary school students in south central Idaho.
• Student Conservation Association - Student Conservation Association Idaho AmeriCorps Program
  $259,200 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.
• Teach for America
  $27,000 to fund 27 AmeriCorps members who will serve as high-quality educators for two years in low-income and under-resourced schools in southwestern Idaho.
• University of Idaho Extension – Idaho Positive Youth Development AmeriCorps Program
  $552,097 to fund 46 AmeriCorps members who will work with 4-H extension offices in 38 counties to improve academic engagement or workforce readiness skills in youth aged 5-18 years.

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.

Individuals interested in serving as AmeriCorps members can learn more HERE.

In 2022, AmeriCorps committed more than $5.7 million to support Idaho communities through AmeriCorps initiatives. This federal investment leveraged more than $1.5 million in other resources to strengthen community impact, build local support and increase return on taxpayer dollars.