I am an AmeriCorps member working for the Middlebury Area Land Trust. On April 28 we received notice that all five Vermont AmeriCorps grants were terminated by the Trump Administration, effective immediately, and that members should pause service activities. When this email came, I was in North Wright Park installing curbing with John Derick, a long-time MALT volunteer, and Madelyn Clem, MALT’s ECO AmeriCorps member. I felt devastated, humiliated, and outraged on behalf of all active AmeriCorps members and alumni. We committed ourselves to service, only to be told that our service was a waste.

I have been MALT’s Community Engagement Coordinator and VHCB AmeriCorps member for eight months. In that time, my sense of purpose has become synonymous with MALT’s: to serve Addison County by “connecting people with the lands we protect.” I taught 75+ youth in nature camps and afterschool programs, helped maintain 18+ miles of trails, and coordinated public environmental education events. I have had the opportunity to get my boots muddy and serve side by side with some of the kindest, most compassionate, and dedicated people I have ever met. I moved to Middlebury for this position straight out of college, and nothing will make me regret that choice.

It is a chaotic and confusing time; the situation is constantly evolving. On April 29th, Vermont joined a multistate coalition in filing a lawsuit, challenging the termination of AmeriCorps grants. Across the nation, people are organizing protests, calling their representatives, and sharing their AmeriCorps stories and outrage. I hold hope for the immediate and long-term future of AmeriCorps.

After Madelyn and I read that email in Wright Park, well… What else could we do but pick our shovels back up? We finished the job. That’s what AmeriCorps members do: We get things done.

Celi Byer

Cornwall