Mayors & County Executives Letter in Support of AmeriCorps
Voices for National Service is inviting Mayors and County Executives familiar with AmeriCorps’ impact to sign onto a letter of support, addressed to the leaders of the U.S. Senate and House Appropriations Committee. Click this link to sign the letter and pledge your support. If you have any questions or difficulty completing the webform, please contact Sarah Aldridge at sarah.aldridge@cityyear.org.
Text of Letter and Current Signers (as of 3:15 pm ET, 12/3/2024)
Dear Chair Murray, Vice Chair Collins, Chairman Cole and Ranking Member DeLauro:
As mayors of cities across the United States, we are writing to share our support for AmeriCorps. We have witnessed firsthand the positive impact AmeriCorps members have on our communities; they help us make our cities better places to live, develop pipelines for talent, and address critical issues. AmeriCorps deserves increased federal support.
We are concerned that the number of AmeriCorps members is in danger of shrinking next year without adequate investment. Local organizations are bracing for severe reductions to AmeriCorps, which would eliminate tens of thousands of service positions across the country. AmeriCorps is a powerful and cost-effective resource our communities cannot afford to lose and, as demand for services continues to grow, AmeriCorps should be scaling up, not cutting back.
Each year, roughly 75,000 AmeriCorps members and 140,000 AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers work hand-in-hand with nonprofit, faith-based, and community organizations – as well as many local governments and agencies – to respond to an array of challenges. These members are deployed in rural and urban communities across all 50 states, addressing critical and urgent needs such as responding to natural disasters, tutoring students, combatting hunger and homelessness, connecting veterans and seniors to services, fighting the opioid epidemic, and much more.
We understand all too well the challenging budget decisions that Congress is facing, but AmeriCorps is a small federal investment that has an outsized impact on our nation. AmeriCorps grants are matched by funds from private, philanthropic, and local sources, increasing the value of the taxpayer dollar. Economists have calculated that this unique public-private partnership yields more than $17 in benefits for every $1 invested by Congress.
National service also leads to long-term benefits. Service with AmeriCorps enables members to gain marketable job skills and pursue higher education, increasing their employability and earning potential. AmeriCorps members also report strong personal attachment to the communities they serve in and often stay after their service term, continuing to volunteer and give back.
Communities like ours have faced an increase in new and complex challenges in recent years, and AmeriCorps is uniquely positioned to respond in a cost-effective, efficient manner. We urge you to invest in AmeriCorps so that our cities can continue to rely on the resources, services, and benefits that AmeriCorps members provide.
Thank you for your leadership and support for AmeriCorps.
Sincerely,
Steven L. Reed, Mayor of Montgomery, AL
Randall Woodfin, Mayor of Birmingham, AL
Steve Gallardo, Supervisor of Maricopa County, AZ
Kate Gallego, Mayor of Phoenix, AZ
Darryl Mahoney, County Judge of Garland County, AR
George McGill, Mayor of Fort Smith, AR
Karen Bass, Mayor of Los Angeles, CA
Martha Guerrero, Mayor of West Sacramento, CA
Patricia Lock Dawson, Mayor of Riverside, CA
Matt Mahan, Mayor of San Jose, CA
Emma Sharif, Mayor of Compton, CA
Ryan Banks, Mayor of Hayden, CO
Aaron Brockett, Mayor of Boulder, CO
Clyde Church, County Commissioner for La Plata County, CO
John I. Clark, Mayor of Ridgway, CO
Libby Fay, Mayor of Buena Vista, CO
Gary Hall, Mayor of Estes Park, CO
Mike Johnston, Mayor of Denver, CO
Marsha Porter-Norton, County Commissioner for La Plata County, CO
Steven Romero, County Commissioner for Costilla County, CO
Laura Weinberg, Mayor of Golden, CO
Shari Cantor, Mayor of West Hartford, CT
Paul Pernerewski, Mayor of Waterbury, CT
Carolyn D. Cummings, County Commissioner for Leon, FL
John Dailey, Mayor of Tallahassee, FL
Buddy Dyer, Mayor of Orlando, FL
Gregg K. Weiss, County Commissioner for Palm Beach County, FL
Van Johnson, Mayor of Savannah, GA
Regis Charlot, Village President of Lake Bluff, IL
David Goins, Mayor of Alton, IL
Tom McNamara, Mayor of Rockford, IL
Leon Rockingham Jr., Mayor of North Chicago, IL
Ann Taylor, Mayor of Waukegan, IL
LaToya Cantrell, Mayor of New Orleans, LA
Ronald Bergstrom, Chair Regional Commissioner for Barnstable County, MA
Joshua A. Garcia, Mayor of Holyoke, MA
Shaunna O’Connell, Mayor of Taunton, MA
Dominick Pangallo, Mayor of Salem, MA
Joseph M. Petty, Mayor of Worcester, MA
Gina-Louise Sciarra, Mayor of Northampton, MA
Charlie Sisitsky, Mayor of Framingham, MA
Sam Squailia, Mayor of Fitchburg, MA
Robert F. Sullivan, Mayor of Brockton, MA
Michelle Wu, Mayor of Boston, MA
Sheldon A. Neeley, Mayor of Flint, MI
Victoria Garcia Snyder, Mayor of Albion, MI
Christopher Taylor, Mayor of Ann Arbor, MI
Leighton Aldridge, Mayor of Mound Bayou, MS
Roschelle Gibson, Alderman of Byram, MS
Chokwe A. Lumumba, Mayor of Jackson, MS
Barbara Buffaloe, Mayor of Columbia, MO
Brian Jackson, Mayor of Saint Louis County, MO
Tishuara O. Jones, Mayor of St. Louis City, MO
Quinton D. Lucas, Mayor of Kansas City, MO
Bill Cole, Mayor of Billings, MT
Cory Reeves, Mayor of Great Falls, MT
Andrew J. Hosmer, Mayor of Laconia, NH
Jay P. Ruais, Mayor of Manchester, NH
Brent Jaramillo, County Manager for Taos County, NM
Pascualito Maestas, Mayor of Taos, NM
John Ortego, Mayor of Questa, NM
Eric L. Adams, Mayor of New York City, NY
Yvonne Flowers, Mayor of Poughkeepsie, NY
Gary R. McCarthy, Mayor of Schenectady, NY
Dalton George, Mayor Pro Tem of Boone, NC
Cyril Jefferson, Mayor of High Point, NC
Justin Bibb, Mayor of Cleveland, OH
Jack Bradley, Mayor of Lorain, OH
Denise Driehaus, County Commissioner for Hamilton County, OH
Pete Gerken, County Commissioner for Lucas County, OH
Andrew J. Ginther, Mayor of Columbus, OH
Gary Goosman, Mayor of Amesville, OH
Eboni A. Johnson, Mayor of Oberlin, OH
Wade Kapszukiewicz, Mayor of Toledo, OH
Anita Lopez, County Commissioner for Lucas County, OH
Aftab Pureval, Mayor of Cincinnati, OH
Lisa A. Sobecki, County Commissioner for Lucas County, OH
David Holt, Mayor of Oklahoma City, OK
Monroe Nichols, Mayor of Tulsa, OK
Lisa Batey, Mayor of Milwaukie, OR
Ed Fitch, Mayor of Redmond, OR
Tonya Graham, Mayor of Ashland, OR
Melanie Kebler, Mayor of Bend, OR
Lucy Vinis, Mayor of Eugene, OR
Kenya Johns, Mayor of Beaver Falls, PA
Gamal Sherif, Mayor of Rutledge, PA
Rick Danner, Mayor of Greer, SC
GP McLeer, Mayor of Fountain Inn, SC
Stephanie Boardingham, Mayor of Forest Hill, TX
Lesley Briones, Commissioner for Harris County, TX
Dr. Christopher Harvey, Mayor of Manor, TX
Kristen Ishihara, Mayor of Longview, TX
Ron Nirenberg, Mayor of San Antonio, TX
Peter Sakai, County Judge of Bexar County, TX
Kirk Watson, Mayor of Austin, TX
Phillip Jones, Mayor of Newport News, VA
Angela Birney, Mayor of Redmond, WA
David Faber, Mayor of Port Townsend, WA
Cassie Franklin, Mayor of Everett, WA
Leonard X. Hernandez, County Manager for Thurston County, WA
Amy Howard, Deputy Mayor of Port Townsend, WA
Ryan Mello, County Executive-Elect of Pierce County, WA
Victoria Woodards, Mayor of Tacoma, WA
Melissa Agard, County Executive for Dane County, WI
David Crowley, County Executive for Milwaukee County, WI
Cavalier Johnson, Mayor of Milwaukee, WI
Mary O’Connor, Mayor of Monona, WI
Satya Rhodes-Conway, Mayor of Madison, WI
Tim Swadley, Mayor of Stoughton, WI
Updated 3:15 pm ET, 12/3/2024
Click this link to sign the Mayors & County Executives Letter and pledge your support. If you have any questions or difficulty completing the webform, please contact Sarah Aldridge at sarah.aldridge@cityyear.org.