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Dear AmeriCorps Stakeholders,
For 30 years, AmeriCorps has been steadfast in our commitment to address this nation’s most pressing challenges -- from being on the frontlines of disaster relief and climate change, to feeding Americans facing hunger and homelessness, to fostering the next generation of civic and community leaders, to bolstering public safety, public health and public education. Every time America calls, AmeriCorps answers. And now as we continue to find our collective footing in a post-pandemic society, the call is coming from within our ranks to adapt and adjust to the world around us.
From the start of the Biden-Harris administration, as the country was in the grips of a global pandemic, President Biden’s dedication to national service has never wavered. This administration has made historic funding investments, taken great steps to modernize the agency, and has advanced policy change and rulemaking that makes serving in AmeriCorps and receiving funding from AmeriCorps easier. With the administration’s support, AmeriCorps has launched groundbreaking initiatives, such as Public Health AmeriCorps, American Climate Corps, National Partnership for Student Success, and Youth Mental Health Corps, that not only address historic national challenges but will help our members breakthrough into good paying jobs that embrace innovation.
In the face of such tremendous progress, we have all heard from members that the living allowance is simply not livable, leaving far too many vulnerable to housing and food insecurity. A lower living allowance hampers outreach and recruitment efforts. This can be a redlight for individuals from low-income families and underserved communities. To build sustainable programmatic strength, AmeriCorps must make every effort to reduce barriers to service, create a meaningful pathway to the workforce, and provide members with the dignity and security of a life sustaining allowance, even when the decision to do so is hard.
My team and I have worked to find a balanced approach, one that is centered on the health and safety of AmeriCorps members; while also prioritizing community impact and providing grantees and sponsors with the resources they need to operate quality programming. After extensive conversation with grantees, project sponsors, and members, we are increasing the minimum living allowance in the coming year to $12 per hour for AmeriCorps State and National, VISTA, and NCCC programs. Below you’ll see the details for each program.
I recognize this decision does not get us to our previous goal of a minimum of $13 per hour. Given the conclusion of American Rescue Plan funding, fiscal caps, and rescissions, we’ve decided to move a bit more gradually while still maintaining unprecedented growth in our living allowance. In doing so, we will continue to prioritize funding sponsors and grantees that are raising state, local, and private sector dollars to supplement housing, transportation and living allowance for AmeriCorps State and National.
Recent data shows that approximately 80 percent of AmeriCorps State and National Grantees pay at least one dollar an hour more than our minimum. I applaud these grantees for going further faster and look forward to working with our congressional champions and cross-sector partners to provide the resources needed so all AmeriCorps members receive a life-sustaining allowance.
While this decision does not address the concerns related to stipends for AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers, I want to underscore the work we continue to do to remove barriers to service among older adults who want to serve. During this administration we have seen the single largest increase in the stipend from $3.15 to $4.00 and we know there is more to be done to support those volunteers who give so much of themselves to others.
Living Allowance Impact by Program
AmeriCorps VISTA will implement an increase in the minimum living allowance from $11 to $12 an hour in quarter 4 of FY 2024 in alignment with our annual review of member living allowance rates and cost of living adjustments. This change will not further reduce the number of members in communities for FY 2024.
AmeriCorps State and National will raise the minimum full-time member living allowance from $18,700 in FY 2024 ($11 an hour) to $20,400 in FY 2025 ($12 an hour) while maintaining the maximum cost per MSY in FY 2025 at the FY 2024 rate of $25,000. This decision both allows for members to earn more while taking care to mitigate the impact to the boots on the ground numbers by making the choice to still invest in the programmatic costs at a lesser, but more sustainable amount. It also ensures that programs continue to have historic high levels of administrative funding to operate programs.
AmeriCorps has also gone to great lengths to enact policy changes, including the AmeriCorps State and National Rule Change, that will make service more accessible and help grantees stretch dollars further.
AmeriCorps NCCC provides members a comprehensive set of allowances and benefits to offset costs associated with serving in the program. Collectively, these allowances and benefits are referred to as the member compensation package, which is presently valued at the equivalent of $12.60 an hour following increases made in 2022 and again in 2023.
We all want to see a greater AmeriCorps presence in communities across the country. There should be 2 million AmeriCorps Members and AmeriCorps Seniors Volunteers serving each year instead of 200,000.
But until funding levels support expansion, we must first have a moral standard on the health and safety of those who serve - a standard that does not waver in the face of a changing budget environment in Washington. We look forward to working with bipartisan leaders in Congress to ensure AmeriCorps no longer has to choose between impact in communities and member wellbeing.
Dr. King said, “the time is always right to do what is right” and today I am proud of our agency and our broader AmeriCorps community for doing what is right for our members and mission.
In service,
Michael D. Smith
Chief Executive Officer
AmeriCorps
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