AmeriCorps is a national service program that deploys more than 80,000 volunteers to work on "intensive service" projects at 21,000 locations in the U.S. every year. Since the program was founded in 1994, more than 1 million volunteers have invested 1.4 billion hours in community development projects across the country. While the program benefits millions of people who live in these communities, it also provides volunteers with student loan assistance, grants, invaluable work experience and networking opportunities.

Ten workers from the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps recently arrived in Topeka to assist Habitat for Humanity, the Shawnee County Parks and Recreation Department, and other groups around the city on various projects this spring. They’ll build and paint homes for low-income Topekans, help with summer classes offered by the Parks and Recreation Department, and work with neighborhood improvement associations to conduct surveys.

The presence of AmeriCorps workers in our city is beneficial for everyone – Topekans get a hardworking team of volunteers who are committed to public service and the volunteers get to broaden their skills and learn more about community development. Jack Popwell is the group’s leader, and he explains that AmeriCorps is a way for participants to figure out what they want to pursue professionally: "You can experience a lot while helping people."

By illuminating the problems many communities face, AmeriCorps reinforces the importance of civic awareness and action. A 2017 fact sheet notes that "AmeriCorps alumni are more likely to be civically engaged, to go into public service careers – such as teaching, public safety, social work, and military service – and to volunteer in their communities." There’s no better reminder of the urgency of civic engagement than the list of programs that the Trump administration might eliminate – something AmeriCorps members, alumni and supporters learned earlier this year.

Along with the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the list includes the Corporation for National and Community Service. CNCS administers AmeriCorps and SeniorCorps. In its spending proposal, the Trump administration argues that "It is not a core function of the federal government to promote volunteerism … to the extent these activities have value, they should be supported by the private and nonprofit sectors."

Innumerable worthy programs don’t serve a "core function of the federal government." Consider the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief – a program that has saved nearly 12 million lives since it was implemented by the Bush administration in 2003 (unsurprisingly, Trump’s spending plan would cut PEPFAR by $292 million). Moreover, the Trump administration may want to recall that AmeriCorps volunteers are often heavily involved in disaster relief. Consider something former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour recently wrote about the critical assistance provided by AmeriCorps after Hurricane Katrina ravaged his state: "These young men and women were the glue that bound together our entire volunteer operation."

It’s a core function of the federal government to provide for the common welfare of its citizens, and AmeriCorps has been doing this on a massive scale for decades.

Members of The Capital-Journal’s editorial advisory board are Zach Ahrens, Matt Johnson, Ray Beers Jr., Laura Burton, Garry Cushinberry, Mike Hall, Jessica Hosman, Jessica Lucas, Veronica Padilla and John Stauffer.