Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Georgia Serves Grants $6.6M in AmeriCorps Funding for Georgia

Staff Report

Friday, August 11th, 2023

Georgia Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Christopher Nunn announced today that Georgia Serves is granting $6,600,668 in federal AmeriCorps funding to 20 organizations across the state. 

These grants will enable 651 AmeriCorps members to serve communities in Georgia through these organizations. AmeriCorps members will tackle some of the toughest problems in Georgia including education, economic opportunities, healthy futures, homelessness, people living with disabilities, financial literacy, and environmental issues. 

The following organizations were awarded grants for 2023-2024 to implement AmeriCorps programs in Georgia: 

• AmeriCorps Financial Aid Awareness Program, $229,945 

• AmeriCorps Georgia Relay Teaching Residency, $85,000 

• AmeriCorps Georgia Southern University Research and Service Foundation, $171,248 

• College AIM (AmeriCorps Planning Grant), $74,975 

• AmeriCorps Project RISE, $487,969 

• Breakthrough Atlanta, Inc. (Georgia AmeriCorps Program), $353,159 

• Christian City AmeriCorps Georgia, $132,027 

• Communities in Schools of Georgia (AmeriCorps Foundations Tutorial Program), $193,790 

• Dekalb County Board of Health Public Health, $460,800 

• University of Georgia 4-H/AmeriCorps Project, $552,000 

• Georgia Tech AmeriCorps Academic Mentoring Program, $172,790 

• GoodwillSR AmeriCorps Program, $206,940 

• Hands On Atlanta AmeriCorps, $969,399 

• One World Link Public Health, $882,081 

• Rural Georgia AmeriCorps Program, $568,930 

• Sewa International AmeriCorps Atlanta, $220,682 

• Teach for America – Metro Atlanta, $140,000 

• Georgia State University T.E.E.M.S. AmeriCorps, $188,056 

• University of Georgia Community Food Fellows (AmeriCorps Georgia State Program), $287,998 

• Youth Villages AmeriCorps Program, $222,879 

AmeriCorps’ unique model means that the grants announced today will leverage approximately $4.2 million additional from the private sector, foundations, and other sources – further increasing the return on the federal investment. 

In addition, AmeriCorps will provide nearly $6 million in Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards for the members funded by these grants. 

After completing a full term of service, full-time AmeriCorps members may receive an award of approximately $6,895 that they may use to pay for college or to pay off student loans. Awards vary based on member status i.e., full-time or less than full-time. 

Approximately 75,000 AmeriCorps members annually serve through 21,000-plus schools, nonprofits, and community and faith-based organizations across the country. These citizens have been and continue to be critical in communities recovering from disasters. They also tutor and mentor young people; connect veterans to jobs; care for seniors; reduce crime and revive cities; fight the opioid epidemic; and meet other critical needs. AmeriCorps also helps thousands of first-generation college students access higher education. 

Since the program’s inception in 1994, more than 1 million Americans have served, providing more than 1.5 billion hours of service while earning more than $3.6 billion in education scholarships. More than $1 billion of this funding has been used to pay back student debt. 

AmeriCorps is a federal agency that engages millions of Americans in service through its AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs and leads the nation's volunteering and service efforts. For more information, visit AmeriCorps.gov. 

Those interested in joining AmeriCorps can learn more at AmeriCorps.gov/Join.