Barnstable County to use local funds to keep AmeriCorps Cape Cod running after federal grant cut

Barnstable County Commissioners voted May 1 to endorse continuation of the AmeriCorps Cape Cod program through the current 2025 service year and to use available county budget funds if federal AmeriCorps grant funding is not reinstated.

The action came after staff told commissioners the county can absorb the immediate cost of an early federal grant termination. Town Administrator Dutton said finance staff modeled scenarios showing the county would have expended “just short of $80,000” in grant funds for the final months and that county match funds would leave “a fund surplus of almost $35,000” at the end of the fiscal year if commissioners authorize continuation.

The vote, introduced by Commissioner Forrest and seconded by Commissioner Bergstrom, passed unanimously in a roll call: Forrest, Bergstrom and Commissioner Lyons voted yes. The motion as stated by the commissioners authorizes the county to allow AmeriCorps Cape Cod members to complete their 2025 federal and county service-year commitments if federal funding is not restored while court challenges proceed.

Why it matters: AmeriCorps Cape Cod places a small cohort of members with local towns, conservation groups and emergency-response partners to perform environmental restoration, education and disaster-response work. Program staff and service partners told commissioners the members fill capacity that small towns and nonprofits generally cannot fund from their budgets.

Mike McGuire, director of the Barnstable County Cape Cod Cooperative Extension, told the commissioners the county has already set aside funds to finish members and staff through August and said, “it is my recommendation to the county commissioners that we do that.”

Misty, the program director for AmeriCorps Cape Cod, told the meeting the program currently has nine members serving with roughly 15 direct service partners and supporting about 80 partner organizations across Cape Cod this year. She said the members’ last on-site day is projected as July 25 and the grant service year formally completes on Aug. 14. Misty said Mass Service Alliance, the state commission and grantee, has recommended a two-week wind-down plan tied to a May 9 date while legal appeals proceed, and urged coordinated advocacy to federal lawmakers.

Members and service partners urged the commissioners to continue the program. Lydia Reinhardt, an AmeriCorps member, told the commissioners, “I promise to serve those 11 months, and I would like to continue doing that.” Sarah Jane Stott, another member, said the program “is more than a year of service. It's a promise to protect a place that's worth fighting for.”

Service partners and town staff described everyday and emergency tasks performed by members, including prescribed burns, shellfish work, trail restoration, volunteer recruitment and shelter support during storms. Chip Riley, a county partner, said AmeriCorps members are “not a luxury, it's a lifeline” in times of crisis and cited a recent example in which members received rapid shelter training and deployed within hours during a hurricane warning.

Officials and speakers said the federal termination appears to be part of a broad set of cuts. Misty and other staff described a nationwide reduction affecting more than 80% of state and national programs and said roughly 17 of 31 Massachusetts state programs lost funding. Dutton said more than two dozen state attorneys general had filed suit seeking restoration of AmeriCorps funding.

Next steps: commissioners authorized county staff to implement a transition plan to cover the current service year if federal funds remain unavailable and to prepare options for future program design and funding for the 2027 cycle. Misty and staff asked that partners and citizens coordinate outreach to the state and federal delegation while Mass Service Alliance continues its legal appeal.

The vote was 3-0 in favor. The meeting adjourned immediately after the vote.