AmeriCorps funding cuts hit Rockford region with layoffs at Severson Dells and other conservation groups

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Severson Dells Nature Center and two other conservation groups have lost part of their workforce after the federal government terminated roughly $400 million in grants to support AmeriCorps members’ work across the country.

Severson Dells’ Executive Director Ann Wasser said she received the immediate stop work order around 5:30 p.m. Monday and had to call six local AmeriCorps workers to tell them not to return to work the next day.

AmeriCorps, a federal agency that connects individuals to various organizations with a focus on education and the environment, has four members who worked with Severson Dells, one who worked with the Natural Land Institute and one at the Boone County Conservation District. The workers helped provide nature education, environmental research and habitat restoration.

They’re not eligible to receive unemployment pay because of their member-service agreement with AmeriCorps, Wasser said. The reduction represents half of Severson Dell’s eight nature education workers. The nonprofit has 11 total employees.

“These cuts are devastating for our AmeriCorps members and for our organization. AmeriCorps members choose to engage in a position of service to give back to the community and gain valuable professional experience,” Wasser said in a news release. “This action is an insult to AmeriCorps members who had service agreements through the end of August and now abruptly have no source of income and received no notice to be able to plan accordingly.”

The notice came after the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, ordered the cuts, which affect more than 40% of AmeriCorps grant funding.

“This action harms young adults who want to do good in our community. We are doing everything we can to support the return of the AmeriCorps program and we hope the community will do the same,” Wasser said. “In the meantime, the board and staff are putting plans in place to cover the high impact programs and projects that our AmeriCorps members were working on.”

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is among a coalition of 25 states that is suing the Trump administration over the cuts. The lawsuit alleges that the administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution. It argues that Congress created AmeriCorps and the grant program it administers and the Trump administration has violated the executive branch’s obligation for the law to be faithfully executed.

The Trump administration said the cuts are in line with the president’s agenda to eliminate wasteful spending. The administration also noted a 2024 report from the Office of the Inspector General that said AmeriCorps failed to produced auditable financial statements for eight years. The report made no accusations of fraud, but it stated there are more than two dozen recommendations for corrective action still considered “valid and open.”

“Our AmeriCorps members are your neighbors helping to bring brighter and greener days to our community,” Andrea Wallace Noble, education program manager at Severson Dells, said in a news release. “To them, AmeriCorps is about making a difference in their community, and these federal changes are preventing that from happening.”

The cuts affect more than 32,000 AmeriCorps members across the nation.

“With the speed of the news cycle, it sometimes is too easy to scroll past headlines and news stories until it affects you, and this one affects all of us,” Wasser said. “Our AmeriCorps members have served the northern Illinois community by helping to lead field trips to thousands of area students, collected vital environmental data on the health of our rivers and natural lands, and supported the restoration of native habitat across the region. All of that positive impact is at risk of disappearing from right here in the Rockford area.”

Emma Zimmerman, who is Severson Dells’ longest-serving AmeriCorps member, said losing the opportunity to serve this community is devastating.

“It’s deeply disheartening to see my public service, which was building hope, connection, and change, be dismissed as expendable,” Zimmerman said. “Serving as an AmeriCorps member has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my career and I have gained so much personally and professionally while also giving back.”

Severson Dells has reached out to education volunteers to try to keep programs running while they wait to see if the lawsuit will halt funding cuts. The nonprofit’s leadership will eventually have to decide whether it must cut programming that AmeriCorps members supported.

They’re asking for support through donations or by reaching out to members of Congress to urge them to protect AmeriCorps.

“It is our goal to prevent any more cuts from occurring at Severson Dells. Losing the AmeriCorps program is a significant blow to the organization, but we want to continue to put our community first, just as the AmeriCorps members put this community first through their service,” Chris Samuelson, president of the Severson board, said in a news release. “The board is discussing ways to support our AmeriCorps members. We want to do what we can to honor what the federal government has decided not to honor for our AmeriCorps members.”

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas