Across Montana, over 7,500 AmeriCorps members are rolling up their sleeves to provide 2.5 million hours of service to make our communities better places to live.

Senior Corps volunteers in Helena, help at the Florence Crittenden Home and Head Start. They’re organized as senior companions and foster grandparents. College graduates are working as AmeriCorps VISTAs with groups like CASA and the Prevention Resource Center. Campus Corps students gain professional experience volunteering as nurses and teachers’ aides. The Montana Conservation Corps puts youth to work and instills a commitment to service while working on Helena’s many trails.

All this AmeriCorps energy in our community is at immediate risk. The budget proposal introduced in Congress last week eliminates funding for AmeriCorps. This is counter-productive for addressing our nation’s financial woes. AmeriCorps leverages our nation’s compassion and builds on our “can-do” spirit for solving community problems.

Let’s not unfund AmeriCorps now when our need for motivated, skilled volunteers is greatest, when thousands of unemployed youth are taking their first steps into careers through national service, and when we need citizens who have the skills and experience make a better Helena.

Steve P. Nelsen

Helena

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