Congressman Crow, Lt. Gov. Primavera Discuss Trump’s Harmful AmeriCorps Cuts
AURORA — Congressman Jason Crow (D-CO-06), Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera, representatives from Serve Colorado, and local non-profits held a roundtable to discuss the impact of the Trump administration’s drastic cuts to AmeriCorps.
Since its founding in 1993, AmeriCorps has provided more than 1 million Americans with the opportunity to address challenges in their communities, especially in the areas of education, economic opportunity, veterans and military family services, health, the environment, and disaster services. In 2024, more than 6,600 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors served at over 700 local sites across Colorado. However, the Trump administration abruptly ended more than $400 million in AmeriCorps grants and laid off most of the full-time workforce, requiring more than 32,000 members to stop their critical work in communities nationwide.
“Service makes our nation better, and AmeriCorps enables Coloradans to serve their community directly. Their service makes Colorado a better, safer place to call home. Trump’s cuts to AmeriCorps are narrow-minded, short-sighted, and will leave Colorado worse off. I’ll continue speaking out and fighting back,” said Congressman Crow.
“I’ve seen firsthand how national service changes lives — not just for those who serve, but for the individuals and families they support,” said Lt. Governor Dianne Primavera. “This isn’t just a budget issue — it’s about what’s at stake for students, patients, and neighbors who rely on AmeriCorps programs daily. When you cut AmeriCorps, you don’t just shrink a program — you take away mentors from classrooms, hands from food banks, and care from underserved communities. We’re standing up to stop that from happening.”
“AmeriCorps is a proven pipeline into Colorado’s most critical industries, from education and public health to climate resilience. These cuts don’t just threaten AmeriCorps service across the state - they undermine our future workforce and the communities that depend on it,” said John Kelly, Executive Director of Serve Colorado.
Participants included: Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera; John Kelly, Executive Director of Serve Colorado; Manuel Aragon, Senior Director of Programs of Corps for a Change; Hannah Chung, Member of Corps for a Change serving at Vista Peak in APS; Barb Knapp, Manager of Spark Health Corps; Katie Navin, Executive Director of Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education; and Brittany Pimental, Senior Director of Operations for Denver Urban Gardens.
Congressman Crow strongly opposes the Trump administration’s efforts to gut AmeriCorps, and has supported bipartisan efforts to block these cuts. He has been vocal about balancing the federal budget in a way that does not take a sledgehammer to critical programs that working Americans rely on for their families and communities.
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