Austin, TX – OneStar Foundation today announced that Texas has received $13.8 million in federal AmeriCorps funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), which will be matched by an additional $28.7 million in local resources.
These grants will support 2,234 AmeriCorps members across the state who will serve with 26 different organizations. AmeriCorps members will tackle critical challenges in Texas including education, by serving as in-school, after-school and summertime teachers, tutors and mentors. AmeriCorps members will also work to provide intensive college access and success services, engage in adult and early literacy interventions, participate in early childhood development programs, distribute food to economically disadvantaged children and families, engage children in daily physical activity, assist with case management for the homeless, recruit hundreds of volunteers, and respond to and help Texas communities recover from disasters across the state.
“National service is an essential part of the solution to many of the challenges facing our state,” said Elizabeth Darling, President/CEO of OneStar Foundation. “These AmeriCorps members will meet pressing local needs and strengthen Texas communities as they develop civic and leadership skills to last a lifetime. I congratulate these outstanding organizations and thank all those who serve their communities through AmeriCorps.”
“AmeriCorps members make a powerful impact on the toughest challenges facing our nation,” said CNCS CEO Wendy Spencer. “Building on Texas’s strong tradition of neighbor helping neighbor, AmeriCorps members will improve lives and strengthen communities across the state. As they serve others, AmeriCorps members will also expand opportunity for themselves – gaining skills and experience to jumpstart their careers.”
The current year’s AmeriCorps grant cycle was highly competitive, due to the strong demand by organizations seeking AmeriCorps resources. The 2015 competition prioritized investments in disaster services, economic opportunity, education, veterans and military families.
AmeriCorps engages 75,000 members in intensive service annually to serve through nonprofit, faith-based, and community organizations at 25,000 locations across the country. These members help communities tackle pressing problems while mobilizing millions of volunteers for the organizations they serve.
Since 1994, more than 900,000 Americans have provided more than 1 billion hours of service addressing critical challenges from poverty and hunger to disasters and the dropout crisis. In Texas, more than 47,000 AmeriCorps members have served more than 62 million hours and earned more than $133,010,000 in education scholarships.
Below is a listing of 2015 AmeriCorps grants in Texas:
- Amarillo Independent School District, $303,953 to support 55 AmeriCorps Members
- American YouthWorks, $537,200 to support 40 AmeriCorps Members
- Austin Independent School District, $274,210 to support 20 AmeriCorps Members
- Boys & Girls Club of Austin, $485,997 to support 109 AmeriCorps Members
- Breakthrough, $464,835 to support 139 AmeriCorps Members
- City Year, Inc. – Dallas, $560,284 to support 50 AmeriCorps Members
- City Year, Inc. – San Antonio, $1,299,859 to support 116 AmeriCorps Members
- CitySquare, $1,136,453 to support 278 AmeriCorps Members
- College Forward, $1,109,522 to support 95 AmeriCorps Members
- Communities In Schools of Central Texas, $818,009 to support 96 AmeriCorps Members
- Communities In Schools of the Heart of Texas, $367,448 to support 51 AmeriCorps Members
- Front Steps, $455,000 to support 35 AmeriCorps Members
- Literacy Coalition of Central Texas, $645,523 to support 50 AmeriCorps Members
- LoneStar College – Kingwood, $53,669 to support a one year AmeriCorps Planning Grant
- National College Advising Corps, $400,000 to support 50 AmeriCorps Members
- Project GRAD Houston, $244,353 to support 26 AmeriCorps Members
- Project Transformation, $550,388 to support 133 AmeriCorps Members
- Reading Partners, $370,500 to support 30 AmeriCorps Members
- Relay Graduate School of Education, $45,000 to support 50 AmeriCorps Members
- Student Conservation Association, $64,224 to support a one year AmeriCorps Planning Grant
- Teach for America, $950,000 to support 475 AmeriCorps Members
- The University of Texas at Austin Charles A. Dana Center, $1,315,902 to support 106 AmeriCorps Members
- The University of Texas at Brownsville, $360,005 to support 100 AmeriCorps Members
- Travis County through Travis Co. HHS and Veterans Service, $310,917 to support 32 AmeriCorps Members
- United Way of El Paso County, $265,587 to support 20 AmeriCorps Members
- University of North Texas, $465,430 to support 78 AmeriCorps Members
To learn more about the above AmeriCorps Texas grant recipients, visit http://onestarfoundation.org/americorpstexas/grantees/
###
OneStar Foundation is the Governor-designated National Service Commission in Texas and administers the AmeriCorps State grant program. The Governor-appointed Board members oversee the legal and policy governance of the AmeriCorps Texas program portfolio. OneStar Foundation connects partners and resources to build a stronger nonprofit sector in Texas. Learn more at onestarfoundation.org.
AmeriCorps is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, the Social Innovation Fund, and the Volunteer Generation Fund, and leads the President’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit www.NationalService.gov.
— end —
uwepc 