“You’ve probably never heard of AmeriCorps, but the purpose of it is to get young people involved in their communities by funding full-time positions. So many organizations are utilizing this resource and so much is being done around the country that could not be done otherwise.

But those of us who go into AmeriCorps, we’re seeing the problem situations. We’re seeing what the system is doing. We’re becoming involved in that. So when I got an email that said the funding for my AmeriCorps position was being federally frozen along with funding to a bunch of other programs like Medicaid and SNAP, it was nerve-wracking.

My supervisors at ShareCorps said they were talking to National about it. I knew that if something happened to my position, I was going to be fine. I have a really great support system at home. But the worst thing was that since my project works with people who are unstably housed, I worried about the cuts affecting them.

My team at Make-A-Day have talked and we know we are just treating the symptoms of poverty. There’s so much working against us. And there’s so much dividing people and keeping people from seeing what the problems are. It doesn’t seem like we will solve anything in my lifetime.

It sounds pessimistic, but even if my work isn’t going to make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things, I’d rather go down knowing I did what I could rather than giving up.

AmeriCorps has been an amazing resource for people to get involved, a great opportunity, and if it does unfortunately go away, it might make it harder to do the work, but it’s not going to stop people my age from wanting to get involved for wanting to make a change.”

– Amanda Radke is the Volunteer Coordinator for Make-A-Day, a position currently operated by AmeriCorps VISTA. AmeriCorps is a federal agency for national service and volunteerism. From mentoring students to supporting disaster recovery, helping older adults age with dignity, and tackling other pressing needs, AmeriCorps helps communities across the country.