As the school year began, AmeriCorps volunteers began their assignments. However, due to the drastic funding cutbacks earlier this year, thousands of volunteers did not report to their first day on the job.
In June, AmeriCorps announced that it would be downsizing its largest section of volunteers. By the end of July, the news got worse for many AmeriCorps programs: The House of Representatives denied the program $100 million. The Washington Post reported that without that money, more than 20,000 of its 50,000 volunteer positions would not be filled.
Peter Rumsey Jr., director of Habitat for Humanity International North Carolina, said that the cutbacks have made it very difficult to plan and prepare in many cities. “The rug got pulled out from under us,” Rumsey said. “We didn’t even get clarity of when we would start the programs until early August.”
In North Carolina, Rumsey’s programs were granted a total of 55 positions, despite requesting 75 volunteers.
Rumsey said that cutbacks have affected other states more dramatically. In South Carolina, the program had 15 slots last year and was hoping to grow to 21 this year based on its success in 2002. Instead, the program dropped to 10 slots.
Virginia had a similar experience. Awarded 22 slots last year, the Virginia program only received 10 for this year.

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