FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: July 5, 2013
CONTACT: Elizabeth Darling, 512-287-2062, liz@onestarfoundation.org
OneStar Foundation Announces AmeriCorps Grants to Texas Organizations
2,126 AmeriCorps members to meet state and local needs
Austin, TX – OneStar Foundation announced today that 22 organizations in Texas have received AmeriCorps*State grants from the Corporation for National and Community Service.
The grants will support 2,126 AmeriCorps members across the state who will serve as in-school, after-school and summertime teachers, tutors and mentors, 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 disasters throughout the state.
OneStar Foundation will distribute more than $12.3 million in funding to organizations selected in a highly competitive statewide and national process.
“National service is an essential part of the solution to many of the social challenges facing our Texas communities,” said Elizabeth Darling, President/CEO. “These AmeriCorps members will meet pressing local needs and strengthen Texas as they develop civic and leadership skills that can last a lifetime.”
The current year’s AmeriCorps grant cycle was highly competitive, due to the strong and growing demand by organizations seeking AmeriCorps resources. Demand is also strong from individuals wanting to serve. CNCS received a record-breaking 582,000 AmeriCorps applications in 2011, a dramatic increase from the 360,000 seen in 2009.
"AmeriCorps members are improving the lives of millions of citizens and having a positive and lasting impact on the toughest challenges facing our communities,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “I congratulate these organizations for their strong applications in a highly competitive year. Thanks to the dedicated service of AmeriCorps members, these organizations will increase their reach and impact on meeting local needs.”
The grants advance the priorities of the bipartisan 2009 Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act and focus AmeriCorps resources on six key service areas: disaster services, economic opportunity, education, environmental stewardship, healthy futures, and veterans and military families.
On a national level, AmeriCorps engages 80,000 Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service to meet critical needs. Members serve through more than 14,000 organizations in rural and urban communities throughout the nation. Among other accomplishments, AmeriCorps members last year mobilized 3.4 million community volunteers, and tutored, mentored or served more than 3.5 million disadvantaged youth.
Since 1994, more than 775,000 Americans have provided more than 1 billion hours of service to their communities and country through AmeriCorps. In 2012, 1,964 AmeriCorps members served at 20 programs across the state of Texas in the fields of Education, Economic Opportunity, Healthy Futures, Environmental Stewardship, and Veterans & Military Families. Members provided 2.3 million hours of service and earned $7.4 million in Segal Education Awards to further their own education and repay student loan debt after serving. The 20 AmeriCorps*Texas programs received $12,111,429 in federal AmeriCorps funding, and leveraged an additional $9,766,781 in match funding.
Below is a listing of 2013 AmeriCorps grants in Texas:
- Amarillo ISD, $285,430 to support 55 AmeriCorps Members
- American YouthWorks, $260,000 to support 20 AmeriCorps Members
- AVANCE, Inc. El Paso Chapter, $930,960 to support 74 AmeriCorps Members
- Breakthrough , $330,013 to support 106 AmeriCorps Members
- CitySquare, $1,142,953 to support 304 AmeriCorps Members
- City Year, Inc. , $1,476,300 to support 111 AmeriCorps Members
- College Forward, $965,655 to support 75 AmeriCorps Members
- Communities in Schools of Central Texas, $711,044 to support 96 AmeriCorps Members
- Communities in Schools of the Heart of Texas, $279,168 to support 48 AmeriCorps Members
- Front Steps, $403,000 to support 31 AmeriCorps Members
- Harris County Department of Education, $326,618 to support 32 AmeriCorps Members
- Literacy Coalition of Central Texas, $330,592 to support 32 AmeriCorps Members
- Project GRAD, $244,353 to support 25 AmeriCorps Members
- Project Transformation, $477,984 to support 115 AmeriCorps Members
- Reading Partners, $370,500 to support 30 AmeriCorps Members
- SA Youth, $265,421 to support 40 AmeriCorps Members
- Schulenburg Weimar In Focus Together, $282,830 to support 41 AmeriCorps Members
- Teach for America, $950,000 to support 634 AmeriCorps Members
- Travis County Dept. of Health and Human Services and Veterans Service, $301,696 to support 32 AmeriCorps Members
- University of North Texas, $466,436 to support 83 AmeriCorps Members
- The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, $265,892 to support 40 AmeriCorps Members
- University of Texas at Austin | Charles A. Dana Center, $1,330,000 to support 106 AmeriCorps Members
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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 a national service program administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that engages more than 5 million Americans in service each year and administers United We Serve, the President’s call to service. Individuals can learn about available opportunities and apply online by visiting AmeriCorps.gov.
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