DOGE slashes Shreveport Green and AmeriCorps funding

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The Department of Government Efficiency is cutting nearly $400 million in federal funding to AmeriCorps, a national service program that supports nonprofit organizations in local communities.

Over 46,000 people will lose food assistance, 665 young people will lose after-school assistance, and 1800 veterans will lose mentors, according to Dr. Heather Carpenter, Executive Director for LSU Shreveport’s Institute for Nonprofit Administration and Research.

Carpenter serves as a commissioner for Volunteer Louisiana, which oversees all of the AmeriCorps programs and grants in the state.

“National service is a nonpartisan issue,” Carpenter said. “It’s a people issue. It’s about helping our neighbors.”

Nonprofit members make up around 8% of the workforce in the United States, approximately 9 million people, with 23,000 nonprofit organizations operating in the state of Louisiana alone. While that may seem like a large amount, Carpenter said the economic impact that they make is two to seven times what they are taking out.

“Nonprofits already do so much with so little,” Carpenter said. “They have restraints around constricted funding and how they use their money, with lots of reports and analysis due to being created for the public good.”

Carpenter encourages people to contact their congressional representatives, like Mike Johnson or Bill Cassidy, who highlighted the importance of keeping AmeriCorps and said he would object to cutting it in a social media post.

Carpenter added that none of the programs had any warning, and that people in dire need expected these grants to go through June or longer. AmeriCorps launched an emergency fund that people can donate to here.

Nine of 14 AmeriCorps programs in Louisiana have been immediately terminated, including ShreveCorps. Lauren Jones, Executive Director of Shreveport Green, said that members quit their jobs and made time during their class schedules to participate in this program. These members were promised educational scholarships at the start of their terms, but they are now gone.

“The impact on the communities is going to be dire because our programs require maintenance,” said Lauren Jones, Executive Director of Shreveport Green. “We can’t just go out there and expect to plant a garden or an orchard and not continue to maintain it. It’s going to be pretty detrimental.”

Jones said the city of Shreveport has over 7,000 vacant lots, some of which are owned by other nonprofits that Shreveport Green partners with to remediate. These efforts include planting fruit orchards, gardens, and seating areas to create green spaces where communities can gather.

Jones added that when these lots are not used, they tend to be areas where people dump, are overgrown, and often become places where crime can start.

“With the way that we manage funding, we are able to do these major impacts across the state, across our city that will no longer be able to happen in the same way,” Jones said.

Jones added that Shreveport Green will continue to do its best, but it will have to reduce eight part-time members to two full-time employees.

“It’s definitely going to be a steep hill to climb, because this program was created under the assumption that we would have this federal funding to continue these programs, specifically the incentive with the scholarships for the members that are coming through,” Jones said.

Jones said it is Shreveport Green’s moral obligation to continue finalizing these projects and following through on their initial plans, even if that means without federal funding.

Several states have already sued the Trump administration over the cuts because funding for AmeriCorps was approved by Congress.

“If illegal action is taken just like this one, where they’re cutting our funding halfway through when there have been no egregious acts from our side, then I would like that to be taken to a court,” Jones said. “There’s no longer rules. There’s no longer processes. It is causing a lot of distrust in what we’ve come to believe is a process that we can follow.”

Jones wants to encourage people to reach out to their local nonprofit organizations and see where they can fit in as part of the community.

“Right now, community is the only thing that we have to work against this destructive, harmful interruption,” Jones said.

Shreveport Green and ShreveCorps directly benefit local communities through several initiatives, including a hazardous waste removal program, litter cleanups, and green lot remediation.

“All of these programs, in some way or another, have touched Shreveport residents. I urge you to find those little things that you have experienced directly, and tell our congresspeople that this is not ok and this is not what we want. Our tax dollars do go to serving our communities with this particular program.”

“Working with nonprofits, it’s not about the money. It’s about making a difference in the community that you work with. We all still have the passion that it’s going to take to answer the call for all of these different areas that need help.”