Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson is calling on the private sector to fill the gap left when the Trump Administration began dismantling AmeriCorps last week.
Standing on Thursday at the home of the Digital Harbor Foundation, one of the organizations that lost AmeriCorps funding, Ferguson thanked Baltimore Gas and Electric and the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership for being among the first to contribute when the cuts were announced. Together with other donors, they raised $80,000 for the Digital Harbor Foundation and Elev8 Baltimore, which also lost AmeriCorps dollars.
“Today, we are announcing a call to action,” Ferguson said.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown is leading a coalition of states in challenging the cuts in court.
But Ferguson said the courts can’t move fast enough to protect the services provided by AmeriCorps programs.
“What's at stake here today is well beyond a specific program or policy,” Ferguson said. “It's a reflection of how we value service, volunteerism and building stronger communities.”
The cuts eliminated at least 20 programs across Maryland, affecting nearly 550 members — the volunteers who receive a small stipend in exchange for their service. The programs that survive the cuts must withstand thousands of dollars in losses.
Brown highlighted some of the eliminated programs during Thursday’s press conference in Baltimore’s Federal Hill neighborhood.
“Among them are Frostburg State University's program in Western Maryland that serves food pantries, public schools and Special Olympics Maryland,” Brown said.
He also highlighted the largest AmeriCorps program in the state, which is at Salisbury University and has 178 members working in rural Eastern Shore communities. Brown said the federal funds for that program have been canceled.
“Hundreds of civil servants are now out of work, and thousands of Marylanders who relied on these services are worse off,” Brown said.
The Trump Administration has said AmeriCorps, a federal agency, is rife with waste. “AmeriCorps has failed eight consecutive audits and is entrusted with over $1 billion in taxpayer dollars every year,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said last month.
But Jade Burnham, project director of Harbor Navigators, an AmeriCorps program at the Digital Harbor Foundation, said her program saves taxpayers money. The program works to increase Baltimore City residents’ access to digital services, such as teleworking opportunities, city services and telemedicine.
“These programs are not wastes of taxpayer dollars, but an investment in our communities with positive return on investment,” she said. “In the private sector, similar services of digital navigation can cost anywhere between 40 to 100 plus dollars per hour. These services provided by our members in Harbor Navigators at cost, were only $9 per session — for every hour served, a minimum savings of $31 per hour.”
