Two local organizations have received nearly half a million dollars in grants to fund AmeriCorps community programs.

The Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence and the United Way of Douglas County both received a grant to support a combined 44 AmeriCorps members who will work in the community. Both grants are part of $1.4 million in federal AmeriCorps funding awarded to eight organizations in Kansas and will support a total of 160 AmeriCorps members statewide.

The Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence will have 24 AmeriCorps members as part of a $222,990 grant. AmeriCorps members will work directly with Lawrence school district personnel and Boys & Girls Club staff to provide academic interventions to students in Boys & Girls Club.

AmeriCorps members will work at each of the club’s 14 after-school programs, said Erika Zimmerman, director of grants for Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence. The club has 13 on-site elementary programs and a teen center, which serves all four middle schools. In coordination with the district, the AmeriCorps members will assist struggling students throughout the school day, focusing on math and reading, Zimmerman said.

“It’s a chance for our AmeriCorps members to gather resources, knowledge and skills during the school day and take that to the after-school programs,” Zimmerman said, noting that they will then work with students at the club, both one-on-one and in groups.

The presence of the AmeriCorps members in the classroom will aid in their mentoring of students, said Colby Wilson, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence.

“We’ve got a lot knowledge about what is going on in the school day to help us deliver a more quality program,” Wilson said. “We know what they need from an academic standpoint.”

The United Way of Douglas County received a $260,000 grant from the Kansas Volunteer Commission to support the organization’s AmeriCorps program, said Micki Chestnut, Douglas County United Way communications director.

With its grant money, the Douglas County United Way will support 20 AmeriCorps members in the community, who will “provide direct service to improve the health and employment status of vulnerable teens and adults,” Chestnut said in an email.

The grants are distributed in conjunction with the Kansas Volunteer Commission and the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that administers AmeriCorps.

“Our AmeriCorps program just continues to grow, and the members are doing some amazing things in our community,” Chestnut said. “We are thrilled by the opportunity to use the investment by the Corporation for National and Community Service to make real change right here in Douglas County.”