photo by: Bremen Keasey

A sign for the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence's location inside New York Elementary School, located at 936 New York St. The Club is one of 10 programs with AmeriCorps volunteers in Kansas that were terminated, effective Friday, impacting over 200 people.

Federal cuts to AmeriCorps mean 10 active projects in Kansas have been terminated, ending work for potentially 200 AmeriCorps volunteers across the state, including some positions with Lawrence’s Ballard Center and the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence.

Jessica Dorsey, the Executive Director of the Kansas Volunteer Commission, told the Journal-World the federal government made cuts to multiple streams of the AmeriCorps agency, terminating 10 active grants effective Friday, immediately stopping the work for the active AmeriCorps members working in the state. Those programs were planned to continue through the end of July. Additionally, three planned programs that were scheduled to start in August were also terminated.

Dorsey said a total of 260 AmeriCorps members were approved for the 10 active grants, with 48 people already concluding their service through the agency. Dorsey said there were 145 active members whose work was terminated effective Friday, and an additional 67 members will no longer have the opportunity to serve with AmeriCorps because of the cuts, leaving over 200 people impacted by the cuts.

AmeriCorps, which was founded as a federal agency in 1993 to promote national service and volunteerism, has sent its members across the country to assist communities as volunteers. Some of the group’s focuses include responding to disasters, promoting environmental stewardship, assisting veterans and military families or supporting education.

Dorsey said the cancellation of the programs leaves the Kansas Volunteer Commission “with a lot of unknowns at this time.” She added the vast majority of programs where AmeriCorps workers were working focused on education and youth initiatives, which will impact people across the state.

“This is a real loss for services for our youth,” Dorsey said.

The programs where AmeriCorps was serving in Kansas that were terminated include:

The Ballard Center in Lawrence

The Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence

The Boys and Girls Club of Manhattan

The Center for Supportive Communities in Douglas and Wyanndotte County

Derby Public Schools

The Educator Academy

The Teacher’s College Literacy Center at Emporia State University

The Kansas Association for Conservation & Environmental Education in Manhattan

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas

The Wichita State University Community Engagement Institute

Dorsey also said the three planned programs that would have begun in August worked with the Eudora School District, the Fort Hays School of Education and the Wichita State School of Education.

The Journal-World has reached out to some of the local agencies impacted by the cuts.

This is a developing story that will be updated.