Terminated AmeriCorps grants by Trump, DOGE totaled $1.9M in Idaho

Published On: June 30, 2025

BOISE (Capital Sun of Idaho) When he received the email in April, Tom Alvarez had been serving with AmeriCorps in Idaho for around two years.

He was removed from his assignment with immediate effect and instructed to avoid future involvement with the project.

As part of massive cuts and reductions to the federal government, President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, cancelled millions of dollars’ worth of AmeriCorps grants.

According to the America’s Service Commission, which advocates for governor-led service organizations throughout all 50 states, including Serve Idaho, the cancellation of AmeriCorps awards and zeroing out of existing grant fund balances in Idaho alone amounted to $1.9 million.

Alvarez had been anticipating cuts to nonprofits, but he was baffled as to why. During his two years with AmeriCorps, he assisted at the Boise St. Vincent de Paul food pantry, conducted outreach to Caldwell’s homeless population, and provided marketing and communications support to the Idaho Youth Ranch. He was working with a nonprofit organization in Boise to create a public awareness campaign and strategic strategy at the time the grant was terminated.

According to Alvarez, he never had any cause to believe that the programs he worked with were rife with fraud, waste, or abuse.

In a phone interview on Thursday, Alvarez expressed doubt that a program like AmeriCorps can be classified as waste, fraud, or abuse.

AmeriCorps is the institution that best exemplifies the (Trump) administration’s America First principles because they are entering neighborhoods and providing assistance in ways that no other organization does, Alvarez said.

This year, an increasing number of nonprofits and arts organizations have alerted the Idaho Capital Sun that they have had grants canceled or zeroed out at the state or federal level, including the AmeriCorps grants that were canceled.

What does AmeriCorps do in Idaho?

AmeriCorps is an autonomous U.S. government entity that was founded in 1993 and works with both individuals and nonprofit groups to promote volunteerism and public service.

AmeriCorps awards funds to national and local groups for initiatives that mentor kids, increase access to technology and health care, and combat poverty.

Funding and activities in Idaho, from Moscow to Boise, Pocatello, Salmon, and Clayton, were impacted by the discontinued AmeriCorps funds.

This spring, grants for the Student Conservation Association’s Idaho Corps program, Teach for America, White Clouds Preserve, the Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute, and the University of Idaho’s Positive Youth Development AmeriCorps program—which provides a 4-H STEM program for youth—were terminated.

In a phone interview on Friday, Rachel Bruns, Chief Engagement Officer for the America’s Service Commissions, stated that AmeriCorps programs truly encompass a wide range of activities to support and address the community’s needs by supporting after-school programming, financial literacy, teacher shortages, conservation efforts, and other work to make the land accessible to community members. AmeriCorps members are working on a variety of problems and needs, and we are beginning to observe the effects of stopping those services. The true issue, however, is that these service organizations’ infrastructure is being totally upended, and not all of them will be able to recover from having their federal money abruptly cut off.

AmeriCorps members abruptly told to immediately walk away from their projects

Alvarez accepted a task in November to create a strategy plan and conduct public relations for Idaho Smart Growth, a nonprofit group based in Boise that supports affordable housing, encourages safe school routes, and focuses on sustainable growth.

According to Alvarez, there was a surge of concern in the nonprofit sector following the November presidential election, and many began to question if their funding was in danger. According to Alvarez, he was informed that funding was available in the federal fiscal year budget for this year, which ends in September.

Alvarez, however, claimed to have received an email on April 28 telling him that he had been immediately removed from the Smart Growth project and was not to communicate with the initiative in any way going forward. At first, Alvarez believed the email might be a fraud since it said he could contact them with any issues or problems, but unlike all the other AmeriCorps emails he had received, it was unsigned and without a person’s name at the bottom.

The experience was the same for people around the state.

According to Darlene Carnopis, head of the Idaho Department of Labor’s communications and research office, AmeriCorps informed Serve Idaho, a division of the Idaho Department of Labor, on April 25 that seven awards totaling about $1.4 million were immediately canceled.

In an email on Thursday, Carnopis stated that this affected 133 AmeriCorps members, including 64 summer members and 69 active members. Additionally, a $60,000 VISTA award and the remaining $420,635 for one Serve Idaho grant were cancelled. All award-related activities were to end right now. Serve Idaho is working with the subrecipients to close out the programs after informing the affected programs of this information.

Alvarez was perplexed and frustrated by the news. After working as a contractor and photojournalist, he decided to join AmeriCorps as an adult because he wanted to work with NGOs, where he felt the most fulfilled by his work and the rewards of hard effort.

Alvarez expressed frustration at not being able to improve the strategy and then work to implement it, despite the fact that he was able to complete the majority of his strategic plan and submit it in the days prior to the grant termination.

Alvarez stated, “I think it’s unfinished business overall.”