NASHVILLE, TN – For 30 years, Volunteer Tennessee has invested in programs to meet the most pressing needs in communities across the state. To continue that legacy, the governor-appointed commission is proud to invest over $8 million of 2024-25 AmeriCorps grant funding in 18 organizations across the state.
“We are excited to leverage this grant funding from AmeriCorps to address some of the toughest problems facing our state,” said Amy Walter, chair of the Volunteer Tennessee commission. “From homelessness to school readiness and food insecurity to environmental improvements, AmeriCorps members strengthen communities and improve lives while developing key civic and leadership skills. I congratulate these outstanding organizations and thank all those who serve Tennessee through AmeriCorps.”
These grants will empower more than 830 AmeriCorps members across Tennessee. Each program recruits AmeriCorps members who tackle critical challenges throughout the state. They address various needs, including supporting students with tutoring and mentoring, providing health services, restoring the environment, increasing economic opportunities, and recruiting and managing volunteers.
Of the $557 million awarded in AmeriCorps State and National federal funding, $8.14 million has been granted to Volunteer Tennessee to invest in nonprofit organizations and public agencies across the state. AmeriCorps’ unique funding model maximizes federal investment by leveraging an additional $18 million from the private sector, foundations, and other sources.
AmeriCorps will also provide nearly $6 million in Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards for the AmeriCorps members funded by these grants in Tennessee. After completing a full term of service, AmeriCorps members receive an award of approximately $7,400 that they can use to pay for college or to pay off student loans.
The grants awarded will support AmeriCorps members in all three regions of Tennessee, including Teach for America, Martha O’Bryan Center, Emerald Youth Foundation, and Bridges USA. A complete list of awards, including organizations and funding totals can be found below.
EAST TENNESSEE
- Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homelessness – Funding Awarded: $475,000/ 23 AmeriCorps members will help provide housing placement services to unhoused neighbors in East Tennessee.
- Clinch-Powell Resource Conservation & Development Council – Funding Awarded: $837,502/ 82 AmeriCorps members will tackle critical community needs in housing services, environmental stewardship/conservation, and nonprofit capacity building in Middle and East Tennessee.
- Emerald Youth Foundation – Funding Awarded: $379,852/ 73 AmeriCorps members will serve in support of afterschool and summer programs in the inner city of Knoxville, TN.
- Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee – Funding Awarded: $1,068,550/ 43 AmeriCorps members will provide environmental education and public lands improvements in 7 counties.
- Public Education Foundation – Funding Awarded: $400,000/ 16 AmeriCorps members will participate in a teacher residency program in Hamilton County high-need schools.
- Tennessee’s Community Assistance Corporation – Funding Awarded: $808,229/ 46 AmeriCorps members will address poverty-related issues.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE
- ArtistYear – Funding Awarded: $350,000/ 20 AmeriCorps members will serve in K-12 schools to expand schools’ capacity to offer creative, artistic learning experiences in the Metro Nashville area.
- Hands On Nashville/United Way of Greater Nashville – Funding Awarded: $285,750/ 25 AmeriCorps members will build the capacity of local nonprofits while receiving professional development training.
- Martha O’Bryan Center – Funding Awarded: $321,390/ 21 AmeriCorps members will serve children, youth, and adults to transform their lives through education at 7 program locations.
- Teach For America: Nashville-Chattanooga – Funding Awarded: $120,000/ 120 AmeriCorps members will teach in under-resourced schools.
- University of the South – Funding Awarded: $263,491/ 29 AmeriCorps members will address social determinants of health in rural Appalachia across and surrounding the South Cumberland Plateau, including access to food, education, economic stability, social and community context, and health care services.
WEST TENNESSEE
- BRIDGES USA, Inc. – Funding Awarded: $268,250/ 36 AmeriCorps members will work with 4,000 youth to develop life, leadership, academic, and civic engagement skills.
- City Year Memphis – Funding Awarded: $1,000,000/ 42 AmeriCorps members will serve as mentors to improve literacy, math, and social-emotional skills in 7 schools.
- Literacy Mid-South – Funding Awarded: $82,893/ 42 AmeriCorps members will provide equitable access to high-quality literacy interventions in historically under-resourced communities.
- Memphis Teacher Residency – Funding Awarded: $900,000/ 36 AmeriCorps members will support classroom instruction as apprentice teachers for academically challenged public schools.
- Porter-Leath – Funding Awarded: $450,000/ 52 AmeriCorps members will provide educational enrichment activities and support Books from Birth.
- Relay Graduate School of Education – Funding Awarded: $40,000/ 40 AmeriCorps members serve as full-time teachers impacting students’ educational and life outcomes in historically underserved communities. This program leads members to teaching certification for K-12 students.
- Teach for America: Memphis – Funding Awarded: $85,000/ 85 AmeriCorps members will increase academic achievement in low-income and under-resourced schools in Memphis and Shelby County.
Additional info: AmeriCorps service and benefits.
