POUGHKEEPSIE – AmeriCorps State and National Director Sonali Nijhawan was in Poughkeepsie on Thursday to present a $240,000 American Rescue Plan grant to expand AmeriCorps programs in the City of Poughkeepsie and Dutchess County in partnership with local institutions. The City of Poughkeepsie is one of only a handful of communities from across the entire country that Director Nijhawan is visiting to tout the new grant opportunity.
Lead for Poughkeepsie (LFPK) has partnered with Ampact, a national nonprofit organization, to support local efforts to scale service year opportunities by utilizing Ampact’s portfolio of AmeriCorps programs in the fields of education, climate, public health, housing, and others.
Ampact is being awarded the $240,000 AmeriCorps planning grant to work with Poughkeepsie and Dutchess County institutions to develop a local cradle-to-career AmeriCorps strategy. This partnership is a major component of Lead for Poughkeepsie’s strategy to create 100 service-year opportunities for local residents to serve in Poughkeepsie and Dutchess County by 2026.
The Ampact-Lead for Poughkeepsie partnership is preparing to launch two AmeriCorps programs, the Early Learning Corps and K-3 Math Corps in both the Poughkeepsie City School District and early childhood centers including Day One this fall. This initiative is creating 36 AmeriCorps positions locally, according to LFPK Co-Founder Rob Watson, Jr. Individuals interested in applying for the local AmeriCorps positions can apply online. Interested applicants can apply online.
Director Nijhawan said there are several opportunities for members to serve their communities through AmeriCorps by “providing service and support to communities that need it.” In presenting the grant, she said, “The money is to help them (LFPK) respond to the most critical needs” of the community including programming for education, environment, and economic opportunities.
The group of representatives from AmeriCorps, LFPK, and Ampact spent the day visiting several youth-oriented projects in Poughkeepsie and Nijhawan interacted with youth leadership at many of the events. When visiting the former Castella Printing business at Garden Street and Parker Avenue, now owned by Scenic Hudson, Nijhawan noticed the outdoor chalkboard mural and was invited to respond to the question “what makes you proud of Poughkeepsie,” to which she answered in chalk, writing “The young people” after her encounters with the future leaders.
