Preserve the National Service Programs Including AmeriCorps and Senior Corps
Adopted at the 87th Annual Meeting in 2019
WHEREAS, CNCS is the nation's largest annual grant maker for service and volunteering; and
WHEREAS, there are 220,000 Senior Corps volunteers and 75,000 AmeriCorps members nationwide with 50,000 service locations where volunteers can sign up to make an impact; and
WHEREAS, AmeriCorps has had over 1 million members who have served over 1.4 billion hours while earning a college aid since its inception in 1995; and
WHEREAS, the 220,000 volunteers of the Senior Corps will serve more than 54 million hours in the period of one year, tutoring and mentoring 267,000 children and helping 840,000 elderly individuals receive assistance so that they can continue to live independently; and
WHEREAS, in one year, Senior Corps and AmeriCorps members will assist 750,000 veterans and military families by providing employment services, benefits counseling, transportation, and housing support; and
WHEREAS, in 2015, CNCS was able to leverage an additional $1.26 billion in outside resources to create and maintain strong public-private partnerships to further their impact and get a better return on every federal dollar invested; and
WHEREAS, 8 of 10 AmeriCorps alumni say that their experience benefited their career path, with 42% of those alumni employed within 6 months saying they found a job through a connection made thru AmeriCorps; and
WHEREAS, AmeriCorps members earned $3.6 billion in scholarship funds to help pay for college, with $1 billion of those dollars going to pay off student loans; and
WHEREAS, an independent report found that Senior Corps volunteers live happier and healthier lives while helping others and making a difference in their communities, 88% reporting fewer feelings of isolation, 84% reporting stable or improved health and 78% reporting fewer signs of depression,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States of Conference of Mayors calls on the President of the United States and members of Congress to support our National Service Programs and the Corporation for National and Community Service, which includes AmeriCorps and Senior Corps,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States of Conference of Mayors urges Congress to include robust funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service in fiscal year 2020 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations.