FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sep 30, 2021

AmeriCorps invests in empowering United States Indian Tribes, awarding national service resources and grants to 12 American Indian and Alaskan Native Tribes.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, AmeriCorps, the federal agency for volunteering and service, announced more than $3.4 million in funding, including grants and education awards, to 12 American Indian and Alaskan native Tribes and entities.

The grants awarded will support more than 150 AmeriCorps members in Alaska, Arizona, California, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. A complete list of awards, including organizations and funding totals can be found online and below:

  • Alaska Pacific University – Partnering for Native Health (Anchorage, AK)
  • Gila River Indian Community – GRIC AmeriCorps Program (Sacaton, AZ)
  • Chinle Chapter Government – Chinle Chapter AmeriCorps Program (Chinle, AZ)
  • Fort Defiance Chapter (Fort Defiance, AZ)
  • Hoopa Valley Tribe – Hoopa AmeriCorps (Hoopa, CA)
  • San Pasqual Band of Diegueno Mission Indians – San Pasqual Tribal AmeriCorps Mentoring Program (Valley Center, CA)
  • Red Lake Tribal Council – Service to New Scholars (Redlake, MN)
  • Sitting Bull College – GED Project (Fort Yates, SD)
  • Tse Daa Kaan Chapter of Navajo Nation (Shiprock, NM)
  • Ysleta de Sur Pueblo –Target Tigua AmeriCorps (Ysleta Del Sur Pubelo) (TX)
  • Yakama Tribal Council dba Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation (Toppenish, WA)
  • Northwoods NiiJii Enterprise Community, Inc. – Tribal AmeriCorps Program (Lac du Flambeau, WI)

Each of these programs, supported by these grants, work with AmeriCorps members to connect veterans and their families to community resources, provide legal assistance to low-income patients, deliver public health information related to COVID-19, obesity and diabetes, lead disaster preparedness trainings, teach financial literacy classes, deliver GED preparation and testing services, coordinate employment and training opportunities, and organize cultural and historic education services, and much more.

AmeriCorps has a long commitment to supporting Native American communities, partnering hand-in-hand to address the critical issues unique to their communities, leveraging the culture of service that has existed in tribal communities for generations. This investment is part of the Administration’s larger commitment to create lasting change in Indian Country by strengthening tribal communities through education and economic development.

The funding was made available through the FY 2021 AmeriCorps Indian Tribes competition, which was open to federally recognized Indian tribes, as well as tribal organizations that are controlled, sanctioned, or chartered by one or more Indian tribes. Applicants were selected through a competitive process and submitted proposals explaining their plans to engage AmeriCorps members in evidence-based interventions in one of the agency’s six focus areas, with special priority was given to applicants that met one of the 2021 funding priorities.

This funding is in addition to the $1 billion invested in AmeriCorps in the recently passed American Rescue Plan to further expand national service programs and increase the opportunity for all Americans to serve their country.

These new members will join the tens of thousands of other AmeriCorps members who serve through 21,000+ schools, nonprofits, community and faith-based organizations and state, tribal and local governments across the country each year. Since the program’s inception in 1994, more than 1.2 million Americans have served in AmeriCorps, providing more than 1.6 billion hours of service, and earning more than $4 billion in education scholarships.

AmeriCorps, the federal agency for volunteering and national service, provides opportunities for Americans to serve their country domestically, address the nation’s most pressing challenges, improve lives and communities, and strengthen civic engagement. Each year, the agency invests more than $800 million in grants for local nonprofit, community, tribal, and state organizations; places more than 250,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in intensive service roles; and empowers millions more to serve as long-term, short-term, or one-time volunteers. Learn more at AmeriCorps.gov.