By Emily Storm, KOBI-TV 5 Medford
AmeriCorps members across Southern Oregon won’t have jobs at the end of the month due to federal cuts.
The Trump administration is terminating nearly $400 million of grants to the organization nationwide.
AmeriCorps sends young members across the country to community projects and disaster recovery who receive benefits during and after their service.
There will be over 15 positions eliminated in Southern Oregon including at Rogue Retreat, the Salvation Army, Rogue Food Unites and more just in the Rogue Valley.
“Without Emily and this resource of RARE [AmeriCorps program], we will have less preparedness for our community members, we will have less staff to be able to respond to a disaster– say a fire or flooding. And especially as fire season is approaching, that is a resource that is definitely needed,” says Anne-Marie Rodriguez, Director of Programs at Rogue Food Unites.
Emily Embleton is the Outreach Specialist for Rogue Food Unites, a statewide emergency feeding organization.
Embleton works through the Resource Assistance for Rural Environments, or RARE, an AmeriCorps program that is exclusive to Oregon.
“Another part of Rogue Food Unites is doing disaster relief feeding and disaster preparedness, which has been a big part of Emily’s role here since they’ve joined Rogue Food Unites,” says Rodriguez.
Embleton says RARE has four members in Southern Oregon working in roles from disaster preparedness to rural energy support that are being cut.
“This is not just Ashland. We have folks in the Talent Business Alliance is losing an employee, the Greater Applegate is losing their Fire Resiliency Coordinator– which is such a crucial position for a small community. And there’s not going to be corner of Oregon that doesn’t feel the loss of these people and these services,” said Embleton.
Oregon has joined a multi-state lawsuit seeking to roll back the trump administration’s cuts.
RARE is a part of the lawsuit.
The Community Volunteer Network tells NBC5 that AmeriCorps Seniors is still funded, but that could change at any given moment.
They say the president’s proposed budget cuts would eliminate their funding beginning in fiscal year 2026.
For a link to monitor the program’s status, click here.
This article appeared on KOBI-TV 5 Medford and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.