Letter from Peg Odell

In Support of Common Good

Watching a Zoom meeting last week, I saw democracy in action. My youngest child is serving in AmeriCorps Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. The current administration, following Elon Musk and his demented DOGE directives, decided that federal funding for this independent agency that uses the strengths and skills of service-minded young people to benefit communities all around the United States should end immediately.

Barnstable County elected leaders held a meeting and heard many stories about the importance and 26-year impact of AmeriCorps Cape Cod, and agreed with the county’s emergency preparedness coordinator, who said that “AmeriCorps is a lifeline, not a luxury.” They noted how AmeriCorps also is a pathway for training the next generation of nonprofit and government leaders. The county voted to fund the stipends of the current AmeriCorps team through the end of their term in July and will seek ways to ensure this program continues into the future. Massachusetts and New York State are both part of a coalition of 23 attorneys general and two governors challenging this administration’s termination of AmeriCorps grants and dismantling of the agency through an 85 percent reduction of its workforce.

AmeriCorps Cape Cod works on disaster response and recovery, environmental protection, public health outreach, volunteer recruitment and management, and youth education. The work they do, and that countless other AmeriCorps members do in communities around the country, benefits Republicans, Democrats, Independents, people of other party affiliations, and people with no party affiliations. They work for the common good. Cutting AmeriCorps is just one example of the heedless, counterproductive, anti-American actions of this administration. Thank you to the leaders and people of Barnstable County, and all the states involved in the lawsuit for saying no to this reckless action.

This is just one example of the federal programs, built and run by Americans for the good of Americans, that this administration takes depraved glee in destroying.

Please join me in saying we believe in the common good, we believe in service, we believe in working together for the best of America, and we say no to this administration’s illegal actions. Tell Congress to defend AmeriCorps and so many other federal programs that benefit everyday Americans.

Peg Odell
Cooperstown