Statement on SCI AmeriCorps Grant Termination Notice​ – April 2025

Over the past two weeks, a DOGE visit to the AmeriCorps federal agency resulted in the termination of the AmeriCorps NCCC program and 85% of the agency staff. Now, over the weekend, notice was sent to over 1,000 AmeriCorps programs that their current grants were immediately ended. SCI AmeriCorps was one of those programs.

Our SCI AmeriCorps program has built capacity for youth-serving organizations in Greater Boston to provide key relationships and critical resources necessary for young peoples’ long term success through volunteer management and youth enrichment programming. Just in this year alone our SCI AmeriCorps Fellows have engaged over 1,500 youth through enrichment programs at 10 nonprofits, while also leveraging the support of almost 700 volunteers.

Since late January AmeriCorps has been threatened by executive actions, so at SCI we engaged in an internal review of executive orders targeting vulnerable populations and DEI programming. The federal administration’s executive actions thus far clearly don’t align with SCI’s values. Therefore earlier this month the SCI Board of Directors voted unanimously to end our relationship with AmeriCorps at the end of this program year, and not pursue another grant.  We are confident that we can best achieve our 2028 strategic goal of developing 1,000 Social Capital Cultivators of thriving, inclusive communities independent of federal funding.

While moving away from AmeriCorps makes sense for SCI’s long-term plans, illegally terminating a grant that is under contract in the middle of a program year is highly problematic for AmeriCorps members, community partners, and the young people we serve. AmeriCorps members commit to a year of full-time service for a very modest stipend, foregoing more financially lucrative opportunities.

The grant terminations are effective immediately, although there is a possibility that could be changed through a court ruling. This could suddenly leave AmeriCorps members who are counting on a living stipend through the end of June without a source of income by early May. Many have made commitments to housing arrangements and other obligations to serve in AmeriCorps. Furthermore, AmeriCorps members aren’t eligible to collect unemployment due to AmeriCorps rules.

As a first response to this emergency, SCI is urgently making plans to utilize non-federal funds to extend SCI AmeriCorps Fellows’ service as close to the planned end of service term as possible. 

Every dollar donated helps us extend the program and support members. We have some existing resources that can be allocated to buy some time, but we will be looking to partners and donors to help us generate additional resources so that we can continue to provide SCI AmeriCorps Fellows with funding that enables them to continue to serve and pay for basic necessities. 

You can help support SCI AmeriCorps Fellows with a donation to help put SCI in a financial position to continue the program into June. If you agree that terminating grants in the middle of a contract for no valid reason is wrong, we also encourage you to contact your representatives in Washington.