For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Contact: Ben Conroy
(984) 383-9038
RALEIGH – Today, Attorney General Jeff Jackson filed suit against the Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps) for unlawfully terminating congressionally approved grants that fund jobs and critical programs supporting western North Carolina’s recovery from Hurricane Helene.
“These funds – which Congress already appropriated for North Carolina – are creating jobs, cleaning up storm damage, and helping families rebuild,” said Attorney General Jackson. “AmeriCorps must follow the law so that people in western North Carolina can confidently move forward.”
On April 15, AmeriCorps ordered more than 50 full-time volunteers to stop working on Helene recovery in western North Carolina, as part of terminating all of the more than 750 volunteers working nationwide for the National Civilian Community Corps.
On April 25, North Carolina was notified that AmeriCorps would cut off several grant programs funded through the NC Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service, including:
Project MARS (Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC): employs 45 people who served 18 western North Carolina counties after Hurricane Helene by delivering supplies and meals to homebound and stranded families, distributing food and clothing, assisting shelters and crisis hotlines, and supporting schools as they reopened.
Project Conserve: employs 25 people who partnered with local organizations in 25 western North Carolina counties after Hurricane Hellene to perform debris removal, tree replanting, storm-system repairs and rain-barrel distribution.
Project POWER: employs 14 people who assisted more than 10,500 disaster-affected individuals in Buncombe, Henderson, and Madison Counties by coordinating large-scale food donations, setting up distribution sites, conducting wellness checks and managing cleanup efforts.
Attorney General Jackson and fellow attorneys general allege that AmeriCorps violated the Administrative Procedures Act and the U.S. Constitution by not administering grants that Congress has already appropriated. Across North Carolina, eight of 19 AmeriCorps programs are being terminated, cutting 202 jobs. Other terminated programs provide literacy services, community gardens, support for future teachers in rural communities, mental health support for students and food and grocery distribution.
Since Hurricane Helene, NCDOJ has worked closely with law enforcement and local partners to protect recovery efforts. Earlier this month, Attorney General Jackson launched the Safe to Rebuild initiative to guard against scams and fraud. Learn more and find tips for hiring reputable contractors at ncdoj.gov/safetorebuild.
In today’s lawsuit, Attorney General Jackson joins the Attorneys General of Maryland, Delaware, California, Colorado, Arizona, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia and the states of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
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