Alamoza Citizen Own Woods June 5 2025
U.S. District Court Judge Deborah L. Boardman on Thursday issued an 86-page preliminary injunction stating the Trump Administration must restore millions of dollars in AmeriCorps grant funding and the employment of thousands of its service members.
This comes after two dozen states sued the administration in late April over the cuts to funding. The temporary block to the administration is only applicable to the states that sued the administration, which includes Colorado.
Attorney General Phil Weiser in a statement on Thursday in response to the ruling said, “The illegal cuts to AmeriCorps threaten Colorado communities that rely on program volunteers to provide services to military veterans, older Americans aging in place, people dealing with substance abuse, and wildfire mitigation support.”
The cuts to grant funding were headed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. AmeriCorps was budgeted through Congress, which approved spending of $557 million this year. It has an average operating budget of more than $1 billion.
Boardman allowed for the reduction in AmeriCorps’ workforce, effectively denying the states’ request to restore the majority of staff that were placed on administrative leave. At least 85 percent of the 500 full-time federal AmeriCorps staff were put on administrative leave in late April, some with very little notice.
Boardman’s ruling also allowed for National Civilian Community Corps members to be reinstated only if they are willing and able, according to the Associated Press.
Attorneys general in 24 states and the District of Columbia filed a joint lawsuit in late April. Weiser said the coalition of states is arguing that the Trump Administration acted unlawfully in cutting AmeriCorps, violating the Administrative Procedure Act and the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution.
“The true spirit of service embodied by the hundreds of AmeriCorps members and volunteers across the state is something that gives me hope in the future,” Weiser said. “As the judge says in the opinion, ‘these volunteers represent the best of us.’ The mass closure of AmeriCorps programs, removal of national service corps members from service, and the termination of federal funding makes no sense.”
Most AmeriCorps members are between the ages of 22 and 26. More than 1,000 members were in service across Colorado at the time of the cuts. The San Luis Valley hosts a current cohort of 18 members who primarily worked through La Puente.
TJ Mendez, who oversees AmeriCorps volunteers in south-central Colorado as part of the Rural Alliance for Dignity, or RAD, which includes the Valley, was notified late at night in April of the cuts. He oversees 35 members across the region.
“All 35 of my members were part of that 33,000,” Mendez said in an earlier story.
He said without AmeriCorps volunteers, a drastic reduction in services would ensue. “We cannot sustain our current programming without these AmeriCorps members. So our services are going to be drastically affected.”
Alamosa Citizen reached out to Mendez for comment on the injunction but hasn’t received word at the time of writing.
La Puente executive director Lance Cheslock noted that for the past three years, the San Luis Valley has hosted more than 120 AmeriCorps members who have provided more than 250,000 hours of service.
At La Puente, AmeriCorps volunteer service included distributing more than 1 million meals, serving more than 12,000 distinct families. These volunteers are among a long list of young people who have become part of the fabric of rural communities, he said.
A 2022 study found that for every federal dollar spent, AmeriCorps volunteers generate as much as $34 in value. They are the “elbow grease, the manpower” in the Valley’s communities, Mendez said.
“Every region in Colorado has directly benefited from the contributions of AmeriCorps members. This win today is important, but I won’t stop fighting until we’ve permanently put a stop to the Trump Administration’s reckless and shortsighted attempt to destroy AmeriCorps and the spirit of community service for which it stands,” said Weiser.