These
grants make a focused investment in four of the priority areas laid out in the
bipartisan Serve America Act and three of the priority areas for the State of
Utah: education, environmental stewardship, economic opportunity, and healthy
futures. The grants help to carry out the vision of the Commission’s 2010-2013
Strategic State Plan, targeting resources on a core set of critical problems and
focusing on greater impact through use of standardized performance measures to
evaluate success.
“AmeriCorps members are helping tackle our
communities’ toughest issues and strengthening the impact of local
organizations,” said LaDawn Stoddard, Program Manager at the Utah Commission on
Volunteers. “At a time of great human
need with growing social and economic challenges, national service is a
critical and cost effective approach that engages citizens in solving problems
in their own communities.”
This
year's AmeriCorps grant cycle was highly competitive due to the growing demand
by organizations seeking AmeriCorps resources and the significant funding cuts
at the national level. Nationally a record-breaking 582,000 AmeriCorps
applications were received in 2011, a dramatic increase from the 360,000 seen
in 2009. The Utah Formula grant
competition was also very competitive with over $4.4 million in funding
requests and $1.39 million available. In
the end, only the most exceptional proposals were funded.
EDUCATION
·
The
Utah AmeriCorps Literacy Initiative - $750,000
·
Utah
Campus Compact AmeriCorps Education Award Program - $150,000
ENVIRONMENTAL
STEWARDSHIP/ENERGY
·
The
Utah Conservation Corps Program - $232,286
·
The
AmeriCorps Alleviating Homelessness Program - $133,000
Healthy Futures
·
AmeriCorps
and the Medically Underserved - $133,000
The
grants announced today will implement Serve America Act program changes to
increase AmeriCorps' impact, efficiency, and cost effectiveness. Among those
are standardized national performance measures that will allow for aggregated
impact reporting on how AmeriCorps is addressing community issues, increasing
the focus on outcomes and performance. They will also continue emphasis on
expanding capacity by recruiting and managing volunteers for their programs.
AmeriCorps is a national
service program that engages Americans of all ages and backgrounds in
intensive, results-driven service to meet critical community needs. AmeriCorps
works through existing organizations and helps them reach more people and
better achieve their mission. In 2010 Utah AmeriCorps members mobilized more
than 31,000 volunteers who provided over 308,000 hours of service with an
estimated economic value of $5.5 million.
In
the past 17 years, nationally more than 700,000 men and women have served as
AmeriCorps members, providing more than 860 million hours of service.
AmeriCorps members have served with more than 14,000 nonprofit, faith-based,
and community groups each year helping them expand their reach and better meet
their mission.
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