5 hours Ago
GROWING UP, we both learned the value of service from our families. Maura’s grandfathers served in World War II and her grandmothers were leaders in Jesuit education; Matt’s grandfather stormed the beaches of Normandy and his parents were active volunteers at their church in Nashua. They taught us that service is a way of life, a commitment to something greater than yourself.
For Maura, this commitment led her to join the Marine Corps through ROTC — providing purpose, community, and a transformative pathway to higher education. Her ROTC scholarship made college affordable. For Matt, it was City Year AmeriCorps, where he led a team supporting students in high-need public schools in New Hampshire and discovered his passion for national and community service.
Our different service paths shaped our life trajectories, opening doors that might otherwise have remained closed. We recognize that despite the path, the desire to serve our communities and country burns brightly in countless young Americans. That’s precisely why programs like AmeriCorps are so vital — they provide diverse pathways for service that strengthen our communities while offering young people valuable experience and educational opportunities.
AmeriCorps members can earn the Segal Education Award to help pay for college or repay student loans while giving back to their communities. At this critical moment, when our national fabric seems increasingly frayed, we should be encouraging young people to serve. In New Hampshire, AmeriCorps makes a difference.
Last year alone, more than 1,900 Americans served through AmeriCorps at more than 200 locations across our state — in schools, food banks, homeless shelters, health clinics, youth centers, and veterans’ facilities. These dedicated individuals are addressing our communities’ most pressing challenges. The impact is greater than the service provided.
AmeriCorps invested more than $5.2 million in federal and $900,000 in outside funding to support New Hampshire efforts. We’ve had the privilege of witnessing this impact firsthand.
Maura as chair of New Hampshire’s City Year Starry Starry Night Gala, and Matt through his work establishing ServeNext, which helped make national service a priority in presidential politics, and through authoring the legislation that established the state’s Service Year Workforce Commission. City Year New Hampshire, one of our state’s largest AmeriCorps programs, places dedicated young people in Manchester schools as near-peer mentors, helping students develop academic and social-emotional skills. The transformation we’ve seen in students served and AmeriCorps members has been inspiring.
Other vital programs include the Granite State Education Corps, providing mentoring for youth impacted by adverse childhood experiences; the Lakes Region Conservation Corps, which develops skills for conservation professionals; and Manchester Excels, addressing our teacher shortage by supporting aspiring educators. That’s why we’re extremely disappointed by the latest target of Elon Musk and the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE): the sudden and premature termination of AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) program. It affects thousands of young Americans, many from New Hampshire.
They were abruptly told to pack and go home, just as they were making meaningful contributions all across America. This is shortsighted at best and harmful at worst. The federal investment in AmeriCorps — about $38 million for NCCC last year — represents a tiny fraction of our national budget.
It is far less than the cost of a single F-35 fighter jet, and about 0.005% of the Pentagon’s annual budget. Yet the return on this modest investment is immeasurable in strengthened communities, developed leadership skills, and pathways to education for thousands.
AmeriCorps has traditionally enjoyed strong bipartisan support because it embodies shared values: service, community, responsibility, and opportunity. In New Hampshire, both former Republican Governor Chris Sununu and our Democratic congressional delegation have championed AmeriCorps. As governor, Sununu aptly stated: “Giving back to your local community, and a deep sense of service are an essential part of what it means to be a Granite Stater.
” On behalf of all Granite Staters who believe in the power of service to transform lives and communities, we call on the Trump administration to reverse this damaging decision and protect AmeriCorps. We should be creating more pathways to higher education through service, not fewer. We can all agree that the government needs to be more effective and efficient.
But these cuts aren’t eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. Rather, they’re an attack on vital services to our community, a slap in the face to young people who are looking to give back and get ahead, and a departure from our American values. The future of our communities — and our country — depends on our continued commitment to service.
As New Hampshire knows well, service isn’t just something we do; it’s who we are..
