Serve DC – The Mayor’s Office on Volunteerism announces the availability of AmeriCorps*State funding for Fiscal Year 2010 – 2011 to eligible organizations. Subject to the availability of appropriations for Fiscal Year 2010 (FY2010), new applicants with high-quality proposals will compete either nationally with other State and National programs for $363,000,000 of Competitive funds or locally for $600,000 of Formula funds made available through Serve DC and the Corporation for National and Community Service (Corporation). The total amount of an applicant’s grant request must not exceed $13,000 per Member Service Year requested. Applicants must request no less than five (5) Member Service Years and $65,000.

Following Serve DC’s initial review of all applications, a decision will be made as to which programs Serve DC will recommend to the Corporation for Competitive funding consideration. The remaining applications – and those not selected by the Corporation for Competitive funding – will be considered for Formula funds. Serve DC anticipates notifying Competitive awardees by mid-June 2010 and notifying Formula awardees by the end of June 2010.  Serve DC anticipates making Competitive grant awards in or about the first week of July 2010 and making Formula grant awards in or about the first week of August 2010.

AmeriCorps is a national service network that provides full- and less than full-time opportunities for participants, called members, to serve their communities and build the capacity of nonprofit organizations to meet local environmental, educational, public safety, homeland security, or other human needs. Within these five issue areas, programs may submit proposals that address specific problems of local communities. 

In the FY 2010 competition, the Corporation and Serve DC will give special consideration to projects that address one or a combination of the national service priorities (listed below), that meet critical needs of our nation, achieve national service goals, and address community problems. 

1. Education – unmet educational needs within communities especially those that help children and youth achieve success in school and prevent them from dropping out before high school graduation.
2. Healthy Futures – unmet health needs within communities including access to health care, disease prevention and health promotion initiatives, and health literacy.
3. Clean Energy/Environment – unmet energy-efficiency and environmental needs within communities.
4. Veterans – unmet needs of veterans, members of the Armed Forces who are on active duty, and family members of deployed military personnel.
5. Opportunity – unmet needs relating to economic opportunity for economically disadvantaged individuals within communities including financial literacy, housing assistance, job training, and nutritional assistance.
6. Emergency Preparedness – unmet needs relating to disaster preparedness and recovery.
7. Baby Boomers and Senior Citizens – unmet needs of the population 55 and older.

In 2010, the Corporation will make an effort to allocate not less than 10% of funding to eligible entities proposing to carry out ‘encore service programs.’ The term ‘encore service program’ means a program that involves a significant number of participants age 55 or older and takes advantage of the skills and experience that such participants offer in the design and implementation of the program.

•  Read the full notice* for more information and submission instructions.
•  View the entire Request for Applicants Packet (RFA)*
•  View Grant Competition FAQs*
•  Read the Grant Reference Guide*
•  Read Attachment D: Performance Measure Development for Planning Grants*