In 2020, Juanita Coleman, 61, started volunteering as a foster grandparent at Mary C. Snow Elementary School, on CharlestonƵs West Side.
During the school year, she volunteered in special education classrooms. During the summer, she works with local nonprofit Step-By-StepƵs summer program for kids.
ƵI learn from [the kids], just as well as trying to love on them,Ƶ she said.
Coleman is one of 45 people in the Foster Grandparent Program of the . Seniors who make under 200% of the poverty level can earn a $4 per hour stipend.
ƵThat small stipend that they receive helps pay for food, helps pay for transportation, maybe itƵs car insurance, maybe itƵs their electric bill in the winter,Ƶ said Amber Flynn, AmeriCorps senior director with the United Way of Central West Virginia.
Funding cuts
Flynn is facing two funding issues for the Foster Grandparents Program.
First, according to , a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for AmeriCorps, the Office of Management and Budget is withholding $200 million in fiscal year 2025 funds that has already been granted to AmeriCorps programs, including $535,522 in funds for FlynnƵs Foster Grandparents Program.
The OMB is an executive branch office that distributes federal money.
Additionally, in the proposed national budget for FY2026, all AmeriCorps programs have been slated for elimination. Already, about $400 million in AmeriCorps grants, 33,000 AmeriCorps volunteers and 85% of agency staff have been cut nationwide, according to Voices for National Service.
A federal judge ruled last month that the government must restore grants and positions in about 25 states that sued the Trump administration, according to The Ƶsociated Press. West Virginia did not join the lawsuit.
Bringing people to W.Va.
At a town hall meeting in Charleston last week, former AmeriCorps volunteers, current AmeriCorps workers and community members shared their AmeriCorps experiences and what they feel West Virginia loses when these cuts are made.
Paul Sheridan is a Charleston attorney who came to West Virginia in 1978 to help with flood recovery in Mingo County. Originally from Massachusetts, Sheridan said he took Ƶa scary leapƵ and came to the state.
ƵI came for a year,Ƶ Sheridan said, Ƶand IƵve been here ever since.Ƶ
While volunteering in Mingo County, Sheridan met workers with Legal Aid and started a new career path as an attorney.
ƵIt was absolutely transformative for me,Ƶ he said, Ƶand itƵs hard for me to imagine how I wouldƵve found my way without that opportunity to do community service.Ƶ
Devin Preston is the director of programs for High Rocks, a Pocahontas County nonprofit that serves youth and young adults. High Rocks had the second-largest AmeriCorps program in the state until the cuts.
Preston pointed out that AmeriCorps provides workforce development for the workers and for the state.
ƵI can tell you tons of stories of people who come to our state who have met people here, who have brought other people here and are now living and making their own families here,Ƶ he said. ƵI canƵt imagine losing that vital conduit to our state.Ƶ
Hope in Smithers
Smithers Mayor Anne Cavalier also attended the town hall meeting and shared the effect AmeriCorps is having right now in her town of about 700 people. Cavalier explained how the economy of Smithers had been destroyed when West Virginia University Tech moved from Montgomery to Beckley in 2017.
ƵLast year and this year, I have AmeriCorps members. I have people who have come to our community full of hope, full of energy, full of enthusiasm and ideas,Ƶ Cavalier said.
Katherine McGraw, originally from Raleigh County, is in her second year of AmeriCorps with the town of Smithers.
McGraw has worked on multiple projects in Smithers. Right now, sheƵs developing a program where residents can share their skills with each other. An upcoming program will have a local martial artist teaching kids about self-defense.
ƵƵMy experience with AmeriCorps has been incredibly enriching, both personally and professionally,Ƶ she said. ƵI was dedicated to getting this second contract because I love the area so much.Ƶ
Fisher Hemwall is in his second week as an AmeriCorps worker in Smithers. He is originally from Pittsburgh and recently graduated from Kent State University. He hopes to preserve nature and also strengthen the community of Smithers.
ƵThe first two days, IƵve been welcomed with open arms, especially coming from not being born in West Virginia or in a rural setting,Ƶ he said.
ƵToo little, too lateƵ
At the town hall, April Elkins Badtke, executive director of Stewards Individual Placements, which helps find placements for AmeriCorps members, said many people donƵt understand AmeriCorps.
She has been advocating for the government to keep AmeriCorps operating. According to Badtke, West Virginia is among the top five states with the most AmeriCorps members per capita.
ƵThey donƵt understand, that tutor that is sitting across the table from their child is an AmeriCorps member. They donƵt understand, the person thatƵs getting recovery services is getting it from an AmeriCorps member who also is in recovery themselves,Ƶ she said. ƵThey donƵt understand, but theyƵre about to. WhatƵs going to happen is going to be too little, too late, and we canƵt let that happen.Ƶ
Continuing to serve
While the funding source for these projects remains uncertain, West Virginia volunteers like Coleman plan to keep serving.
ƵI love going in that classroom,Ƶ she said. ƵThe teachers and I, we have a bond.Ƶ
McGraw said she is confident the work will continue.
ƵThereƵs no other return on investment like it. It delivers on the ground assistance that alleviates poverty and incorporates the things that the communities love. ThereƵs nothing else like it,Ƶ she said. ƵIf I was laid off today, I really wouldnƵt be worried because I know, eventually, I would be able to rejoin AmeriCorps.Ƶ
