PROVIDENCE – Five Rhode Island AmeriCorps programs have been selected to receive more than $1.2 million in federal funding.
“AmeriCorps is a great federal investment that gets proven results and is making a real difference in communities throughout Rhode Island. I am pleased we were able to save this program. These grants will help more young people succeed in school and create opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have,” said U.S. Sen. Jack Reed in a news release Thursday.
Reed pointed to House Republican efforts to defund AmeriCorps last month which, he said, would have eliminated positions for the 85,000 people who serve, 500 of whom are in Rhode Island. AmeriCorps members provide services to youth and families in need and help disadvantaged students.
“These five programs will add 105 new AmeriCorps volunteers to our ranks, providing critically important services to aid in the education of young children, expand the environmental awareness of thousands of youth, help urban high school students apply for college and reduce gang violence in our toughest urban areas. I believe the work of our sub-grantees can be a model for the rest of the country,” said Bernie Beaudreau, executive director of Serve Rhode Island.
Those receiving grants are:
- The Providence Plan: $465,500 – to support literacy and school-readiness services for underserved preschoolers, and developmental health screenings in Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls.
- The Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence: $212,800 – to support services in nonviolence intervention, training and recovery methods for youth and families in high-crime schools and communities in Providence.
- Save The Bay Inc.: $212,800 – to support environmental education programming in schools, after-school programs and summer camps. They will also recruit and support community volunteers at four nonprofit organizations to improve school attendance, science proficiency and environmental literacy for K-12 students in Central Falls, Newport, Pawtucket, Providence, West Warwick and Woonsocket.
- Brown University: $187,727 – to provide college counseling to urban, low-income and first-generation students in Rhode Island to help them prepare for, enter and complete post-secondary education.
- Providence Children’s Museum $170,910 – to support school readiness activities for children enrolled in Head Start, and science and math enrichment for elementary age children in Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls.
