Press Releases

AmeriCorps Grants Help Communities throughout Milwaukee

Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) announced $6.9 million in AmeriCorps grants for Milwaukee that will help bolster after-school programs, teacher training and housing construction. 

Congresswoman Moore said, “These grants help us meet President Obama’s vision that every American can serve.    And if every volunteer’s experience is like mine – you’ll get more out of it, than you’ve given.”

Congresswoman Moore served as a VISTA volunteer between 1981-1983, during which time she spearheaded the start-up of a community credit union in Milwaukee and earned the national “VISTA Volunteer of the Decade” award from 1976-1986.  VISTA is now part of AmeriCorps.

The grants announced today are:

• The YMCA of Metro Milwaukee:  $217,600 to support 22 AmeriCorps members to provide structured after-school activities for youth between 3:00-7:00pm when adult supervision may be absent.  Last year the YMCA served 5,230 youth.
• The Mount Mary College Urban Education Fellows Program:  $43,200 for 54 AmeriCorps members who will serve as teachers and mentors in grades K-12, working to increase educational achievement and volunteer recruitment at high poverty, urban schools in Wisconsin. 
• The Milwaukee Teacher Education Center:  $140,000 to support 175 AmeriCorps members who will introduce and strengthen service-learning projects in the Milwaukee Public Schools System. Service-learning is a teaching method that combines academic instruction with community service. 
• Milwaukee Christian Center’s YouthBuild:  $169,650 to support 25 AmeriCorps members who will build and rehabilitate low-income housing; restore hiking trails along the banks of the Kinnikinnick River, and get training to assist in disaster recovery.
• Public Allies: Two grants for $6,331,000 will support 487 AmeriCorps members across the country, and the second for $62,500 will support 25 members to be front-line human service field workers.  Public Allies is a national AmeriCorps program based in Milwaukee that places diverse youth, ages 18-30, as AmeriCorps members in community and faith-based organizations where they serve four days each week for ten months on projects that create, improve, or expand services with measurable results.

Congresswoman Moore continued, “My volunteer experience changed my life and put me on the path to a lifetime of public service.”