(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that the Mayor’s Office of Volunteerism and Partnerships, Serve DC, was awarded an additional $1 million grant by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS).
“With these additional funds, Serve DC can do more with more. We know that tackling our city’s greatest challenges will require a whole-of-community approach, and Serve DC helps us bring our service and volunteer community into those efforts,” said Mayor Bowser. “This funding will also create new opportunities for young people of our city – equipping them with the skills and experience to become a new generation of civic and professional leaders.”
The additional funds, made possible by the American Rescue Plan Act, will be added to Serve DC’s Formula Grant budget and will be distributed to existing and potentially new subgrantees over the next three years, empowering them to:
- increase recruitment and retention of DC-based Americorps members by addressing key barriers to participation through living allowances and match replacement funds; and
- increase the District’s capacity to address local social challenges, such as gun violence prevention, through service.
Locally, Serve DC serves as the District’s state commission by awarding AmeriCorps grants to District-based nonprofit organizations, schools, and universities to strengthen organizational capacity and create and expand programs. With this supplemental grant award, successful DC AmeriCorps applicants will be better positioned to address a combination of national and local service priorities, such as public health and safety, gun violence prevention, education, economic opportunity, disaster response, environmental stewardship, and support for veterans and military families.
Upon learning of Serve DC’s award announcement, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton offered the following acknowledgment: “I am pleased to congratulate Serve DC on being the recipients of this grant from AmeriCorps State and National Rescue Plan. The Mayor’s Office on Volunteerism and Partnerships (Serve DC) was chosen from a competitive group of applicants and should be proud of this notable achievement. By receiving this grant, Serve DC has demonstrated outstanding promise in your field. It is my hope that this grant will enable Serve DC to better the local and global community.”