KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Emmanuel Family & Child Development Center is the latest entity to feel the effects of federal cuts. This time, it's to the center's AmeriCorps program.
As the AmeriCorps program director at Emmanuel, Faith McMillan had to make the calls to her AmeriCorps team to tell all 21 they were out of a job.
"I tried my best to stay strong for them, cry with them, talk with them, but it sucked," McMillan said.
The facility learned the AmeriCorps grant was terminated late last Friday. This comes after the Department of Government Efficiency cut AmeriCorps grants across the nation.
Sonya McCollum works at Emmanuel as the clinical director for mental health services. Her daughter, Sai, was one of the AmeriCorps employees at Emmanuel to lose her job.
"It was devastating because she now has to pivot," McCollum said. "She was counting on this for some of her clinical hours that she’ll need as she goes into her senior year."
Deborah Mann, Emmanuel's executive director, said she didn't expect this kind of cut.
"You just never would think little old Emmanuel sitting down here on the corner would be losing funding," Mann said.
Mann explained the AmeriCorps volunteers helped kids with things like speech and language and mental health. She called them vital resources.
"I had a father tell me his son just ... started talking," Mann said. "He’s three now and hasn’t been talking. So, just to see that growth gave that parent some hope. It’s devastating, and our children will suffer as a result."
The $178,000 gap is one the facility will have to fill to keep up on services, but Mann said the center doesn't have the money to do so. As a result, outreach has been initiated, asking foundations and donors for help.
"If the federal government isn’t gonna be reliable, maybe there’s someone out there that will be," McMillan said.
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