Sitka is among several Alaska communities to lose federal funding for AmeriCorps program staff, in one of the latest cuts from President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency.
It was no secret that DOGE, the quasi-department created by Trump and overseen by billionaire Elon Musk, had begun dismantling the AmeriCorps program in Washington D.C. In mid-April, employees of the national office were placed on paid administrative leave, and told that their jobs would be gone by the end of the month.
Alaska has five AmeriCorps programs, most – like Sitka’s – funded indirectly through the state’s ServeAlaska Commission, and there was some hope that they might be spared the indiscriminate cuts that DOGE has been making in agencies across government.
But that hope vanished Friday afternoon. Sitka program director Sarah Lawrie got word that hers was one of four Alaska programs that were being terminated.
She called together her corps members for one of the most “challenging” meetings of her career.
“I knew that the Department of Government Efficiency was in AmeriCorps, and honestly, I just kind of had an intuition about it,” said Lawrie. “But telling them, ‘Your service isn’t worth anything.’ You’ve made this commitment to come and serve the community, that ethic of serving others: That’s what feels like a slap in the face.”
Until that “bombshell,” as Lawrie put it, Sitka had nine active AmeriCorps members, hosted by the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association, the city’s Parks & Recreation Department, two at Mt. Edgecumbe High School, and four in the Sitka School District. All work for a small stipend, and an education award for completing their year of service that they can apply toward college loans or tuition.
And many remain in Sitka after their term of service. AmeriCorps, says Lawrie, isn’t just about community service, it’s about community building.
“I was here for two years as an AmeriCorps,” said Peter Vu. “I had intended to leave after that second year. But I think, like most other AmeriCorps who fall in love with Sitka, it was hard to.”,
Vu came to Sitka with AmeriCorps in 2016, and served two terms working at Pacific High School. He remained in Sitka for several years afterward, left briefly, but now is back earning a master's degree – while student-teaching in the same school he served as an AmeriCorps member.
And Vu’s story is far from unique.
“I didn’t even realize that the counselor that I work with at the school I’m at was an AmeriCorps almost a decade before I was,” said Vu. “To me, he’s always been this established professional, contributing member of our community, and I always thought of him in that role and as a mentor. And so when he told me he was in AmeriCorps, it really kind of surprised me.”
The program began in Sitka in 2004, and former AmeriCorps are everywhere in town. They work at the Tribe, the Forest Service, own businesses, and they’ve married and started families. Lawrie is not optimistic that Sitka AmeriCorps will have another term next year – or even if she’ll have a job.
But she’s certain that the nine corps members in Sitka now won’t be left high and dry.
“That lifted my spirits,” said Lawrie. “I get this notice and the first thing is I hold the meeting with the AmeriCorps members …and then I start calling the host site supervisors, and they’re full of good ideas, and they’re full of solutions! And any AmeriCorps member that wants to finish out their term in Sitka, Alaska, they’ll be able to, with support from the host site supervisors, and the community. I mean, it gets said over and over, but people are so great – offers of housing and food and jobs and ‘What can I do?’ And so that’s the beautiful part.”
Peter Vu says he’s feeling compassionate for the AmeriCorps who’ve been terminated. He says many have already sacrificed financially to gain the professional experience the program offers. He wants them to stay positive.
“To not have the closure of the end of a year must be really hard,” said Vu, “as well as the uncertainty of not knowing what’s next. And so I feel sorry for them, but I also thank them a lot for what they’ve done and how much they’ve already given to our community in the eight, nine, or ten months that they’ve been here.”
AmeriCorps was created by Congress in 1993, modeled on the Peace Corps, except intended to serve U.S. communities. Other Alaska AmeriCorps programs to lose funding include the Alaska Public Defenders Agency, the Alaska Afterschool Network, and RurAL CAP’s Resilient Alaska Youth.
Alaska’s lone surviving program is the Student Conservation Association.