Newsline: AmeriCorps education awards cut off to faith-based volunteer network

[CoBNews <CoBNews@brethren.org>]

Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service, News Director Cheryl
Brumbaugh-Cayford, 800-323-8039 ext. 260, cobnews@brethren.org

AmeriCorps education awards cut off to faith-based volunteer network

(June 3, 2011) Elgin, IL -- After 15 years of participation in the AmeriCorps 
education award program, Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) has learned that its 
access to the program has been cut off. Federal budget cuts mean the 
Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is not funding such 
grants to the volunteer networking organization of which BVS is a member, for 
the 2011-12 term.

BVS participates in the AmeriCorps program through the Catholic Volunteer 
Network (CVN), a networking organization for a number of faith-based volunteer 
groups. BVS membership in CVN means that its volunteers may apply to receive 
the $5,350 education award from AmeriCorps, and BVS gains access to other 
benefits like a health insurance program for its volunteers.

A notice from CVN reported that the federal budget decision-making process "had 
a devastating effect on CNCS and programs operating under the corporation's 
umbrella. CNCS was funded at $1.1 billion, which is $72 million below the 2010 
fiscal level. The Learn and Serve America program was cut entirely from the 
2011 budget. AmeriCorps programs received a $23 million cut. On top of these 
budget cuts, CNCS received nearly twice the amount of applications for national 
service funds, as compared to last year. Over 300 organizations applied for 
Education Awards Program grants--of these programs, only 50 were funded."

"There's dismay" among the BVS staff, said director Dan McFadden. The cuts will 
be a loss particularly for volunteers who enter BVS carrying large college 
debt, he said. To support these volunteers BVS may have to look for other ways 
the church can help, such as paying the interest on school loans which average 
$20,000 to $30,000 for current volunteers. 

"The debt load that volunteers come out of college with continues to rise," 
McFadden said. "We have had volunteers with up to $50,000."

Thirteen BVS volunteers currently are in the AmeriCorps education award 
program. In 2009-10, 21 BVSers received the award, but that was an unusual 
year, said McFadden. Since BVS began participating in the program in 1996, more 
than 120 BVSers have received the education award, estimates orientation 
coordinator Callie Surber. This represents some $570,000 or more that has 
helped BVS volunteers repay student loans, she said.

Former BVS director Jan Schrock was instrumental in making it possible for 
faith-based volunteer organizations to participate in AmeriCorps, McFadden 
said. At first, BVS and other such groups worked through the National Council 
of Churches to participate with AmeriCorps. CVN then picked up administration 
of the program for the past 13 years.

However, loss of access to the education award is not expected to affect 
recruitment for BVS. "Most BVSers don't come into BVS because of the AmeriCorps 
education award," McFadden said. Actually, BVS staff recently had been 
assessing whether to continue the connection with AmeriCorps, because of new 
requirements that could have forced BVS to "take the faith language out" of its 
application, he said. 

"In evaluating this we asked past volunteers that received the AmeriCorps award 
how many would not have come into BVS if it hadn't been for the education 
award?" Only three out of the 20 who responded said they would not have entered 
BVS without the award.

Other organizations will be harder hit, McFadden said, such as other 
faith-based volunteer corps that have had hundreds of volunteers participating 
with AmeriCorps each year.

"The Catholic Volunteer Network has begun to reach out to community service and 
government leaders to determine creative solutions for this crisis," the CVN 
notice said. "We would also like to encourage you all to advocate on behalf of 
the Catholic Volunteer Network, our member organizations, and the AmeriCorps 
program as a whole."

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continuing 
the work of
Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in community. The 
denomination is based
in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is one of the three Historic 
Peace Churches. It
celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts some 123,000 members across 
the United
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, 
Brazil, the Dominican
Republic, Haiti, and India.

># # #

>For more information contact:

>Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
>Director of News Services
>Church of the Brethren
>1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120
>800-323-8039 ext. 260
>cobnews@brethren.org