Mayor Bowser Awards $5.4 Million in AmeriCorps Funding to 13 Youth-Serving Nonprofit Organizations

AmeriCorps Grant awardees will support 10,000 District youth with enrichment and academic readiness and create 600 service member opportunities.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Tuesday, May 9, 2023, Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Mayor’s Office on Volunteerism and Partnerships (Serve DC) announced 13 nonprofit organizations that will receive $5.4 million in AmeriCorps grant funding for the 2023-2024 annual grant cycle. The AmeriCorps Competitive and Formula Grant awardees, whose work focuses primarily on student enrichment and academic readiness, will support more than 10,000 District youth in pre-K through grade 12 and create nearly 600 service member opportunities for District residents.

“Our nonprofit partners play a significant role in supporting, mentoring, and teaching our young people, both during the school day and during out of school time – and we are happy to support them,” said Mayor Bowser. “These organizations also help create a pipeline of civic and professional leaders who know our communities and who are passionate about DC. Supporting these organizations is a win-win for our kids and our community.”

Serve DC, the District’s Commission on National and Community Service, supports the AmeriCorps Competitive and Formula grant program. The program also creates new service opportunities for District-based high schools, colleges, universities and community-based organizations. With this new round of grant funding, the program is expected to provide 658,000 hours of service in areas such as high-impact tutoring, mentoring and afterschool enrichment to D.C. students in the upcoming year.

“AmeriCorps State and National grants invest key funding to address critical needs in our local communities, including here in Washington, DC,” said Sonali Nijhawan, director of AmeriCorps State and National. “From public health needs to educational opportunities, economic mobility, environmental stewardship and veteran services, these programs meet the challenges head on, implementing evidence-based solutions to underserved communities and people in need.”

The selected grantees provide services in all eight wards, with 70% of the organizations focusing on Wards seven and eight. The nonprofit organizations selected provide resources to support academic success and student wellness, and two of this year’s selected grantees will also provide targeted support to foster parents and students with disabilities.

The following organizations will receive funding under Serve DC’s 2023-2024 Competitive and Formula AmeriCorps portfolios:

• City Year
• Jumpstart for Young Children
• The Literacy Lab
• After School All Stars
• CASA DC*
• Foster and Adoptive Parent Advocacy Center
• Higher Achievement
• Kid Power
• Latin American Youth Center (LAYC)
• Relay Graduate School for Education
• SchoolTalk Inc*
• Teach For America
• Teens Run DC

*First-time AmeriCorps grantees

“The D.C. AmeriCorps story is one of inclusivity, access and impact,” said Alexis Squire, chief service officer and director of the Mayor’s Office on Volunteerism and Partnerships, Serve DC. “Our goal is to inspire those with local values and experience to acquire new life and leadership skills through service, all while making a difference in the lives of our city’s most deserving – our youth and families.”

This year, SchoolTalkInc and CASA DC are two new grantees to be selected for the AmeriCorps Formula Grant. SchoolTalkInc is an organization focused on supporting students of all ability levels, and CASA DC is an organization that connects trained volunteers to support trauma-impacted D.C. youth in foster care.

“CASA DC is truly grateful and excited to be an AmeriCorps Formula grantee,” said Arika Adams, executive director of CASA DC. “This support will enable us to expand educational programming for D.C.’s trauma-impacted youth who face numerous academic barriers. We are honored to continue this partnership with Mayor Bowser and Serve DC in this new capacity and look forward to how we can work together to transform lives and help D.C. youth thrive.”

This year’s AmeriCorps Competitive Grant continues to support City Year, which is Serve DC’s largest grantee and one of the largest AmeriCorps affiliated groups in the District. City Year has over 160 members that deliver tutoring and mentorship to nearly 2,000 students across 18 schools in the District.

“City Year Washington, D.C. believes that all students deserve thriving K-12 learning environments,” said Dr. Michael Stevens, executive director of City Year D.C. “In partnership with our education leaders like DCPS, City Year is excited to leverage the talent and passion from AmeriCorps members to provide additional support in classrooms across D.C. This renewed investment from our partners at Serve DC allows us to recommit to another year of service in pursuit of our collective vision towards educational equity.”

To learn more about the AmeriCorps Competitive and Formula Grant program, visit HERE.