Save AmeriCorps District Meetings, June 2025
In the month since DOGE began taking steps to dismantle AmeriCorps – terminating 40% of AmeriCorps grants, demobilizing AmeriCorps NCCC/FEMA Corps members, and laying off nearly 85% of the agency staff – we have been encouraged by the ways that communities are showing up to support AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors programs and members.
Members of Congress are speaking out as well, from op-eds to floor remarks to social media – and we need more members of Congress to act in support of AmeriCorps.
We are asking AmeriCorps programs and champions to organize local office meetings or site visits with senior staff for your members of Congress throughout June. AmeriCorps is an essential resource for your community. We need to make sure that congressional staff understand how AmeriCorps is making a difference on the ground.
An in-person meeting or site visit with a senior staffer will have more of an impact than signing a petition, sending a letter or email, or making a phone call (although those are helpful too), and there are many advantages to holding your meeting in the local office rather than the DC office. Scheduling a meeting in the district/state can be easier and allows you to establish a local relationship that can be deepened over time.
District Days are an opportunity to bring together program leaders, alumni, local champions, and community partners to impress upon congressional staff – or the member of Congress themselves – that AmeriCorps makes a difference in your community.
Ready to get started?
- Fill out this form if you want additional support from Voices for National Service as you plan and schedule your district meeting(s).
- Watch this recording of our District Days Prep Call from May 28th for more background and details.
- Visit this Dropbox folder for everything you need as you seek and prep for district meetings, including a template meeting request letter, talking points, tips for answering tough questions, leave-behind handouts, and more. There is also a checklist to help you keep track of the different moving pieces!
- Once scheduled, log your meeting in this Google Spreadsheet to help us track our collective impact and identify gaps in our congressional outreach.
FAQs:
- How to find your local lawmakers: Visit Congress.gov and input your zip code to find your members of Congress. You may need to input your street address in full, if your zip code is divided between two Representatives. Everyone will have two Senators and 1 Representative.
- Timing: We’re asking our partners to schedule all meetings and site visits during the month of June. This ensures that advocates are meeting with congressional offices in a timely manner so members of Congress can act to support FY25 grantmaking and FY26 appropriations.
- Who should you meet with? We recommend requesting a meeting with the District or State Director – senior members of the congressional office staff and essential advisors to the member of Congress!
- Check out this series of interviews with Brian McNabb, State Director for Sen. Bill Cassidy, for more on why it is important to connect with your member’s District or State Director.
- Who should you include in your meeting? District office meetings about AmeriCorps funding are strongest when multiple organizations or perspectives are represented, speaking about the impact AmeriCorps has locally. As you plan for your district office meeting, we recommend inviting another AmeriCorps program, a service partner, board member, AmeriCorps alumni, or other local validators from your area to participate in your meeting.
- If you or your partners have had a grant terminated – you could include terminated corps members, but actively serving AmeriCorps members should not participate.
- Is it better to ask for a meeting or a site visit? A district meeting will be an easier ask for the office to agree to and a lower lift for your team to prepare for, but a site visit may be more impactful if you are able to show AmeriCorps members in action. If you aren’t sure, or don’t have a pre-existing relationship with the member office, it may be easier to start with an office meeting and then invite them to a site visit in the future.
If you have any questions about the Save AmeriCorps District Days, please contact Sarah Aldridge, Director of Congressional Affairs, at sarah.aldridge@cityyear.org.