Times are tough here in Michigan, but you don’t need me to tell you that. It might as well be painted in bright red lettering across our state.
You see it in the smallest of places—like the face of a child who has worn the same clothes to school for the last week, or the single mother having to put back food in the grocery store checkout lane.
You can see it in your neighborhood—one foreclosed house after another, shops quietly closing their doors for good.
You watched it on the news as the once thriving Michigan auto industry was brought to its knees in front of the world.
You can see the entire state of Michigan’s struggle physically when you head south on 75 to Detroit and see the skeleton of Michigan Central Train Depot. Michigan has a lot in common with this haunting old building—both have a vibrant past and beauty that are not apparent at first glance anymore.
But there is one thing that Michigan does not have in common with this building—Michigan is not abandoned.
While you read this there are Michigan residents serving in our communities, devoting their time to help and restore Michigan. They serve long hours, steadfastly and silently supporting Michigan residents who need it the most. They serve in nonprofits throughout Michigan, for very little pay, yet they make measurable positive differences in our state.
These people are AmeriCorps members.
AmeriCorps members tutor children in your schools. They work one-on-one with people who have, or are at-risk, of losing their housing. They do their best to keep foreclosures from happening, and they help secure affordable housing for those who don’t have it.
They help connect our state’s neediest families and individuals with services that can give them a hand up and out of poverty. In the last two months, AmeriCorps members in the Michigan Campaign to End Homeless have helped over 2,500 Michigan residents get connected with crucial services, by planning one-day community connect events. They have recruited over 100 volunteers and helped over 700 unemployed people at these events.
That’s right--this has all been accomplished since the turn of the new year!
From 2010 to 2011 they amassed even greater numbers by assisting or leading in the planning of numerous connect events statewide that served over 10,000 people. One third of these guests were unemployed, while many others were in a housing crisis or literally homeless.
And that's not even the tip of the iceberg. These numbers don't include the countless people members help individually every day at their service locations (You can read about that in their blogs!). It also doesn’t count what other programs in the state, as well as throughout the entire nation, have accomplished.
Michigan needs AmeriCorps members to fight poverty, help educate our children, and prevent homelessness. Especially in what might someday be considered Michigan’s darkest hour.
We know Michigan needs this program because we have lived through one of the greatest recessions of our country’s history, in one of the hardest hit states.
We have seen it. We have felt it. We will not give up.
Member serving in AmeriCorps will continue to improve our communities. We will continue to get measureable results. We will continue to help people who are in times of crisis.
But we have a crisis of our own. Congress wants to cut funding, and effectively eliminate AmeriCorps, as well as over 47,000 other people who serve the nation. They want to cut programs that have been acting as the backbone of our state and country—doing what nonprofits don’t have the time or resources to do. We can’t let them.
It will be a struggle to keep the funding, but we cannot and will not give up.
We will not abandon Michigan.
***This was written on my own time, as a private citizen***
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