The Trump administration has decided to destroy the AmeriCorps program, which puts millions of people, mostly volunteers, to work in community service. The latest in a long list of brutal cuts since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, this potentially illegal move threatens countless services—from repairing homes after hurricanes, to tutoring students or coaching disabled veterans—including efforts to prevent overdose and address substance use disorder. Dozens of states are suing in response.
AmeriCorps, formed in 1993 as an independent federal agency, recruits volunteers who work in critical areas like education, conservation and health care, and receive a stipend or living allowance. In 2023, the agency reported that 1.2 million people had served that year, in all 50 states plus Washington, DC and Puerto Rico.
In April, Trump and Elon Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) ordered the majority of the agency’s staff to be put on leave, and canceled $400 million in grant funding to its programs nationwide.
Elected officials like Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer (NY) blasted the cuts, saying they would result in programs being shut down entirely and thousands of volunteer workers being fired in their respective states. And quickly, states fired back: On April 29, a group of dozens of them, both Democratic- and Republican-led, sued the Trump administration in federal court in Maryland. The states are alleging that Trump’s actions are illegal—violating both federal statute and constitutional separation of powers, since Congress has already allocated $1.2 billion for the current fiscal year to pay for programming.
AmeriCorps members assist in overdose prevention efforts. One example is the AmeriCorps Community Training for Overdose Rescue (ACT) program in Michigan, which “aims to stop overdose deaths, reduce harm caused by heroin and other opioids, and strengthen community engagement in addressing public health challenges.”
A spokesperson for the Michigan Community Service Commission, overseeing the state AmeriCorps, told Filter that ACT serves the Detroit metropolitan area in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties—distributing the opioid-overdose reversal drug naloxone, installing NaloxBoxes and training residents in overdose prevention. The state subgranted $269,000 for this work, and confirmed that it has been terminated per the Trump cuts. There is no state funding available to replace the federal money.
“The feet on the ground with people driving out there with Narcan in their cars doing these trainings, that will be severely compromised.”
Chelsea Mudalagi, member support coordinator for ACT, said that the program comprises about 100 AmeriCorps members, who are as diverse as Detroit itself. Since 2019, they have helped train 6,000 people, distribute over 21,000 doses of naloxone and hand out tens of thousands of fentanyl and xylazine test strips. Members receive a stipend and education awards, and many have gone on to pursue medical school, study public health or even serve in the Peace Corps in Africa.
“The biggest hit [of these cuts] is the education we’ve been able to provide,” Mudalagi told Filter. “The staffing power we can have, the feet on the ground with people driving out there with Narcan in their cars doing these trainings, that will be severely compromised … It [now] looks like a smaller team doing fewer outreach activities, reaching fewer partners every year, potentially giving out fewer numbers of Narcan.”
Volunteers also play key role in peer outreach, helping people experiencing substance use disorder. Jeanne Duffy is the executive director of Serve Wisconsin, the state’s AmeriCorps administrator. She explained that Wisconsin has about 25 AmeriCorps volunteers who serve as peer recovery coaches. They’ve each have been trained to support and mentor about 150 individuals.
“People who are in recovery get trained as coaches,” Duffy told Filter, “so it helps them maintain their [own] recovery, and other people going through it.” For volunteers whose past issues have led to them having a criminal record, she continued, “this helps get them on the job track. Through AmeriCorps they develop work history. Many of our members have then gotten degrees in counseling and recovery coaching.”
But that program has now ended—and it’s not clear if and when it could resume.
“We currently have over 25 programs, engaging 800 members in service and that all ended.”
“We received notice that all our federal AmeriCorps funding was terminated,” Duffy said. “We currently have over 25 programs, engaging 800 members in service and that all ended, effective immediately …Each program is different. Some are terminating their members immediately. Some have funds where they can keep members on for another couple weeks or 30 days, and some are looking for private funds to continue the work.”
The program is administered by a health nonprofit based in northern Wisconsin. AmeriCorps provides half of the funding, with the other half coming from other sources. For volunteers, it pays for a living allowance, and for those who graduate, an education award equivalent to the federal Pell Grant of $7,000 a year.
In California, AmeriCorps VISTA workers assist the California Overdose Prevention Network (COPN) in counties statewide to distribute naloxone kits, collect death data from coroners’ offices and develop anti-stigma campaigns. VISTA is part of AmeriCorps, but with COPN members are hired as employees to support more involved projects, rather than serving as volunteers.
April Rovero is the executive director of the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse, which conducts education and trainings around addiction and overdose prevention, among other work. She currently has an AmeriCorps VISTA employee working with her for a few months on her organization’s website, software and outreach. She was ready to hire an additional VISTA worker when the news hit about Trump’s cuts. The candidate, she said, is an Oakland resident who is well connected in the city’s Black community, who would be playing an essential role in the organization’s work there. Now, the status of that worker is on indefinite hold.
“We haven’t been point-blank told there’s not going to be a continuation of the AmeriCorps VISTA program as it supports the overdose prevention program, but we have been placed on hold with that second person,” Rovero told Filter. “As far as I know they aren’t planning to defund the person that came on board in March.”
The VISTA worker currently working with Rovero attends community events and meetings to do overdose rescue training, establish naloxone distribution and spread education about prescription drug and fentanyl use.
“What likely the Trump-Vance administration does not understand is that AmeriCorps volunteers are sacrificing … What they’re doing is holding up a lot of our country’s social safety net.”
Asked if there are any alternative funding sources, Rovero said it’s not clear. The organization has applied for a county grant supported by opioid settlement money, and will consider other options. But losing the federal support will be very painful.
“I absolutely want [the program] to stay,” she said. “It would be really sad to see it go away—and every coalition in the state would say the same thing—that AmeriCorps VISTAs are a huge support base for our organizations. Most of us don’t have a lot of money. Being able to obtain a 40-hour-a week person that works in direct support of our programs is a huge benefit. We can’t replace that person easily.”
It remains to be seen if the courts will slow or stop Trump’s assault on AmeriCorps. The legal challenges are mounting: On May 5, a coalition representing AmeriCorps state service commissions, organizations and volunteers also sued in federal court to stop the cuts.
“There’s a misconception that AmeriCorps is something people do just to feel good about themselves,” Mudalagi said. “What likely the Trump-Vance administration does not understand is that AmeriCorps volunteers are sacrificing, they’re not in this for the money. What they’re doing is holding up a lot of our country’s social safety net … This is a true reflection of American patriotism and the American spirit.”
Video screenshot via the AmeriCorps website
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