Volunteer Tennessee provides $5.6 million in AmeriCorps grants

963 AmeriCorps members to meet state and local needs

NASHVILLE, TN – Volunteer Tennessee, Tennessee’s governor-appointed commission on volunteerism and service, today announced that Tennessee has received nearly $5.6 million in AmeriCorps funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency responsible for AmeriCorps and other national service programs.

These grants will support 963 AmeriCorps members across the state to serve with 18 organizations. AmeriCorps members will tackle critical challenges in Tennessee, including tutoring and mentoring children, providing health services, restoring the environment, increasing economic opportunities, and recruiting and managing volunteers.

“National service is an essential part of the solution to many of the toughest problems facing our state,” said Tina Hodges, Board Chair of Volunteer Tennessee. “These AmeriCorps members will meet pressing local needs and strengthen communities as they develop civic and leadership skills to last a lifetime. I congratulate these outstanding organizations and thank all those who serve their communities through AmeriCorps.”

Of the $576 million awarded nationally, $5.6 million will be granted to Volunteer Tennessee, which in turn will award grants to nonprofit organizations and public agencies across the state. The law creating AmeriCorps gave a key role to states in determining how national service resources are used and in promoting service and volunteering to meet community needs.

AmeriCorps’ unique model means that the grants announced today will leverage an additional $19 million from the private sector, foundations, and other sources – further increasing the return on the federal investment.

CNCS will provide over $5 million in Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards for the AmeriCorps members funded by these grants. After completing a full term of service, AmeriCorps members receive an award of approximately $6,000 that they can use to pay for college or to pay off student loans.

Every year, 75,000 AmeriCorps members serve through over 21,000 schools, nonprofits, and community and faith-based organizations across the country. These citizens have played a critical role in the recovery of communities affected by disasters and helped thousands of first-generation college students access higher education.

They also tutor and mentor young people, connect veterans to jobs, care for seniors, reduce crime and revive cities, fight the opioid epidemic, and meet other critical needs.

AmeriCorps is funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency for volunteering and service, which recently marked its 25th anniversary. Since the program’s inception in 1994, more than 1.1 million AmeriCorps members have served the nation, providing more than 1.6 billion hours of service and earning nearly $4 billion in education awards to pay for college or pay back student loans. In Tennessee, more than 15,000 AmeriCorps members have served more than 29 million hours and earned more than $56.2 million in education scholarships. Those interested in joining AmeriCorps can learn more at AmeriCorps.gov/Join.

Below is a listing of 2020 AmeriCorps grants in Tennessee:

CHATTANOOGA
AmeriCorps*Building Futures – AIM Center
Funding Awarded: $42,257
Total AmeriCorps Members: 3
AIM Center AmeriCorps members will help address the stigma of mental illness while serving at the AIM Center. Members will holistically address the basic human needs for meaningful relationships, self-sufficiency and community reintegration for people in the greater Chattanooga area with a psychiatric diagnosis.
Contact: Lucy White, (423) 702-8013, lucywhite@aimcenterinc.org

Project Inspire – Public Education Foundation
Funding Awarded: $339,873
Total AmeriCorps Members: 22
Project Inspire is a teacher residency that attracts and prepares aspiring teachers through a year-long, real-world experience in the classroom. Members will serve 5 days a week throughout the entire school year at select host sites, and members will also earn a graduate degree (M.A.T.) through the 14-month program at Lee University.
Contact: Mark Neal, (423) 668-2425, MNeal@pefchattanooga.org

CHATTANOOGA/NASHVILLE
Teach For America: Nashville-Chattanooga
Funding Awarded: $145,000
Total AmeriCorps Members: 145
Teach For America believes that all children deserve the opportunity to attain an excellent education. They recruit, train and place outstanding teacher leaders into classrooms serving low-income children throughout Davidson and Hamilton County.
Contact: Kenya Payne, (615) 242-6263 x40132, kenya.payne@teachforamerica.org

JOHNSON CITY
Appalachian RC&D Council
Funding Awarded: $140,365
Total AmeriCorps Members: 10
Appalachian Resource Conservation & Development Council AmeriCorps members will provide outreach, education and training on health and wellness, nutrition, food access, cooking, gardening, food preservation, and/or entrepreneurship in communities served by their host sites located in multiple East Tennessee counties.
Contact: Rachel Wheeler, (423) 427-0547, rachel@arcd.org

Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homelessness
Funding Awarded: $180,723
Total AmeriCorps Members:17

Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homelessness AmeriCorps members aim to reduce homelessness by providing a combination of housing and social services in the Appalachia region of East Tennessee.
Contact: Anne Cooper, (423) 218-4090, anne@appalachianhomeless.org

KNOXVILLE
CAC AmeriCorps – Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee
Funding Awarded: $599,750
Total AmeriCorps Members: 50
CAC AmeriCorps is Tennessee’s only environmental corps. CAC AmeriCorps members serve to improve public lands, streams, and greenways; educate the public; meet immediate human needs through disaster response; and build the volunteer capacity of partner organizations.
Contact: Jason Scott, (865) 546-3500, jason.scott@knoxcac.org

T.E.A.M. – Emerald Youth Foundation
Funding Awarded: $201,328
Total AmeriCorps Members: 58
T.E.A.M. AmeriCorps members serve urban young people by leading structured afterschool and summer day camp activities (academic, enrichment, leadership, health activities, and mentoring) alongside the staff of a faith-based organization. The goal is to see young people become contributing leaders and live a full life.
Contact: Rachel Davis, (865) 637-3227 x112, rdavis@emeraldyouth.org

MEMPHIS
Bridge Builders Expansion – BRIDGES USA, Inc.
Funding Awarded: $197,667
Total AmeriCorps Members: 38
BRIDGES' mission is to unite and inspire diverse youth to become confident and courageous leaders committed to community transformation. Bridge Builders Expansion addresses key needs facing Memphis area youth in grades 6-12 through experiential learning and the facilitation of the Bridge Builders curriculum that targets low academic performance and graduation rates, low rates of cultural competency, and low rates of opportunity for meaningful civic engagement. Contact: Tosca Nance-Jones, (901) 260-3790, tnancejones@bridgesusa.org

City Year Memphis – City Year, Inc.
Funding Awarded: $804,908
Total AmeriCorps Members: 52
City Year Memphis works to bridge the gap in high-poverty communities between the support that students actually need and what their schools are designed and resourced to provide. In doing so, the program aims to increase graduation rates and change the lives of their students. City Year Memphis AmeriCorps members will be responsible for providing whole school services to approximately 1,500 students and individualized services to 420 students in five Memphis public schools.
Contact: Hannah Perrin, (310) 266-3280, EPerrin@cityyear.org

Generations – Porter-Leath
Funding Awarded: $303,840
Total AmeriCorps Members: 20
Generations AmeriCorps members will increase school readiness by providing educational enrichment activities for Porter-Leath Early Childhood students in the agency's Head Start centers in Memphis and Shelby County. The AmeriCorps members will also leverage over 120 additional volunteers that will be engaged in literacy initiatives in the same centers.
Contact: Judy Rautine, (901) 577-2500 x1128, jrautine@porterleath.org

Impact America - Tennessee
Funding Awarded: $175,785
Total AmeriCorps Members: 15
Impact America - Tennessee AmeriCorps members will implement substantive service-learning projects related to health and economic opportunity in 26 TN counties, primarily around Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. AmeriCorps members will be responsible for: providing free vision screenings for 21,000 young children, with follow-up care for those failing the screening; and preparing tax returns for 2,000 low-income households. In addition, the AmeriCorps members will leverage 90 additional volunteers who will be engaged in conducting vision screenings at hundreds of childcare centers and assisting with free tax preparation at 4 IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites managed by Impact America.
Contact: Hunter Keane, (855) 459-1923, hkeane@impactamerica.com

Memphis Teacher Residency
Funding Awarded: $656,500
Total AmeriCorps Members: 50
Memphis Teacher Residency (MTR) recruits outstanding leaders as co-teachers for Memphis' most academically-challenged public schools. MTR’s mission is to positively impact student achievement in Memphis urban schools by recruiting, training and supporting outstanding teachers. All AmeriCorps members are placed in Memphis' Title I schools that have an enrollment that is more than 50% Free or Reduced Price Lunch assisted.
Contact: Suzanne Oates, (901) 937-4683, Suzanne@memphistr.org

Teach for America: Memphis
Funding Awarded: $182,000
Total AmeriCorps Members: 182
Teach For America believes that all children deserve the opportunity to attain an excellent education. They recruit, train and place outstanding teacher leaders into classrooms serving low-income children throughout Memphis and Shelby County.
Contact: Mackenzie Smith, (231) 215-0208, Mackenzie.Smith@teachforamerica.org

MEMPHIS/NASHVILLE
The Relay New Teacher Pathway – Relay Graduate School of Education
Funding Awarded: $33,600
Total AmeriCorps Members: 112
AmeriCorps members participate in the innovative teacher preparation program, the Relay New Teacher Pathway, in Nashville and Memphis. At the end of the first program year, the AmeriCorps members will be prepared and certified to serve as full-time teachers of record, and the approximately 2,400 economically disadvantaged K-12 students they teach will demonstrate improved academic performance, better attitudes about school, and improved behavior and classroom engagement.
Contact: Allison Moore, (646) 604-9515, support@relay.edu

MORRISTOWN/VARIOUS SITES ACROSS TENNESSEE
Community Cares – Tennessee’s Community Assistance Corporation
Funding Awarded: $284,911
Total AmeriCorps Members: 42
Community Cares is a multi-focus program that addresses important problems communities of poverty face including helping seniors and people with disabilities live independently; preparing and distributing food for people in need; and providing youth engagement services to disadvantage youth under 18 years of age.
Contact: Rebecca Basenfelder, (423) 586-7636 x 310, rebecca@tcac1.org

NASHVILLE
Hands On Nashville
Funding Awarded: $356,017
Total AmeriCorps Members: 23
Hands On Nashville (HON) builds capacity for individuals and agencies to meet needs through volunteerism. Its AmeriCorps program honors that work by engaging members in yearlong terms of service with HON and its community partners. Member activities include stream restoration, environmental education, volunteer project management, disaster response planning, sustainability education, urban canopy care, and community outreach.
Contact: Jann Seymour, (615) 298-1108 ext. 409, jann@hon.org

THRIVE – Martha O’Bryan Center
Funding Awarded: $258,094
Total AmeriCorps Members: 21

AmeriCorps members serve at Martha O'Bryan Center in the youth development program, THRIVE. Members will help young people change their futures by mentoring youth in local schools, assisting the youth to succeed. AmeriCorps members also participate in after school tutorials, generate excitement about learning and community service, and encourage parent participation. Members also serve with adult GED students.
Contact: Nate Kerr, (630) 408-7547, nkerr@marthaobryan.org

RUTLEDGE/GREENVILLE AREA
Appalachia CARES – Clinch-Powell Resource Conservation & Development Council
Funding Awarded: $692,338
Total AmeriCorps Members: 103
Appalachia CARES is a community-based service-learning program. AmeriCorps members provide direct service to local communities through primary focus areas of energy efficiency, conservation, and housing services throughout Tennessee. As a secondary focus, they also expand the organizational capacity of participating agencies by expanding services, increasing outreach, and recruiting and/or managing community volunteers.
Contact: Trenna Brown, (423) 620-3456, appalachiacares@clinchpowell.net

Volunteer Tennessee is the Governor’s commission on volunteerism and service. Its mission is to encourage volunteerism and community service. Annually, Volunteer Tennessee provides more than $6 million in AmeriCorps grants and volunteer center grants to local agencies throughout the state so they can engage volunteers to meet community needs in education, environment, public safety, human needs, and homeland security. The commission consists of a 25-member, bi-partisan volunteer citizen board appointed by the Governor and eleven State Government ex-officio positions.

More than 5,200 people of all ages and backgrounds are helping meet local needs, strengthen communities, and increase civic engagement at more than 800 national service locations across Tennessee. For more information, visit www.volunteertennessee.net or visit Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

AmeriCorps is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that engages millions of Americans in service through its AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs and leads the nation's volunteering and service efforts. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.

Published July 12, 2020