In Marion County, kids who needed extra tutoring got it from AmeriCorps staff at an after-school program.
In Wheeling, farmers received help growing and selling local food through an AmeriCorps initiative.
In Charleston, scouts and tourists learned survival skills and scouting history, with help from an AmeriCorps member.
Now, thanks to President Donald Trump, all of these efforts to make life better in West Virginia are threatened or already eliminated.
AmeriCorps members have also helped with flood recovery, restored trails and constructed housing for low-income West Virginians.
But after the Trump administration slashed funding, many communities will no longer have this additional, enthusiastic help to meet needs like preparing children for success and increasing access to locally grown food.
Already, more than 200 AmeriCorps member positions have been eliminated in West Virginia, according to the West Virginia Nonprofit Association.
Not all AmeriCorps programs were affected by the initial cuts. But programs that didn’t lose workers, such as senior programs, are also at risk because President Donald Trump’s budget outline includes no funding for any AmeriCorps program.
“Many organizations and citizens don’t even realize how they may be impacted by these programs,” said Rachel Bruns, chief engagement officer for America’s Service Commissions, a nonprofit formed to advocate for AmeriCorps funding that has shifted to helping staff who have lost their positions.
Last year, there were nearly 3,000 AmeriCorps members at more than 400 locations in West Virginia. The program amounted to a $15 million federal investment to state programs.
Based on evaluations across the county, AmeriCorps reports programs generate as much as about $34 for every federal dollar spent.
For example, parents in Marion County are better able to work because AmeriCorps members provide after-school care.
In middle schools, AmeriCorps workers have met with school teachers to identify kids struggling in math or reading and give them the personalized attention they need.
They’ve encouraged kids with mental health problems to calm themselves by using tools like journaling.
Parents who are short on time have relied on workers to offer their kids a safe space and to spend hours each day mentoring and tutoring.
Shannon Yost, director of the Flipside Afterschool Program, said 150 kids were enrolled, but they’ll likely have to shut down programs at some middle schools.
While her group has been able to retain some workers for another month, 12 of 22 are now scrambling to get by.
Yost expects closures to result in more kids falling behind. Other groups say unless officials restore funding, they’ll have to limit help and tourism will decline.
Friends of the Ohio River Islands and New River Gorge National River also lost workers who restored trails.
One program assigns workers to spend time with seniors who need companionship and help cooking and making it to medical appointments. Another program connects older people with foster children who need support.
Reviews of AmeriCorps have noted insufficient record-keeping including a recent report in which an auditor declined to issue an opinion on whether the organization was complying with financial rules.
In a statement, a spokesperson depicted this as having “failed” audits and said eliminating the agency is part of the president’s effort to “restore accountability” to the federal government.
But the recent audit did not find evidence of fraud or theft, and said AmeriCorps was already working with financial experts to find accounting errors.
AmeriCorps both gives native West Virginians an opportunity to stay close to families and their hometowns and brings people from other states who end up staying.
Sarah Nicholli Matheny was able to come home to Charleston after college in Philadelphia to work at the World Scouting Museum.
The museum teaches survival skills and the origins of scouting. It also offers tours for people who want to see memorabilia like National Jamboree posters and uniforms from around the world. The museum connects kids with new friends and with relatives, such as grandparents who were in scouting.
With Matheny’s help, the museum was able to bring in more people, revamp interior design and set up displays focused on Girl Scouts.
She’d planned to use education funding that AmeriCorps provides to learn a trade. Now, she thinks she’ll have to move away.
“I’m doing this 100% on my own, so it’s a struggle to constantly look for even just small work opportunities, to figure out how I’m gonna keep the power on and a roof over my head over the next month,” she said.
Like other AmeriCorps organizations, the museum was already operating with bare-bones funding.
Alex Bennett, the museum curator and lone remaining worker, said, “These are jobs that cannot be filled.”
