A Roseburg nonprofit is reeling after the Trump administration made cuts to AmeriCorps.
Umpqua Watersheds is dedicated to the preservation and education of the Umpqua basin watershed. One of their largest programs, Eastwood Nature Days, brings in around 500 third graders from Roseburg public schools to the Eastwood Nature Trail.
To help plan the program, the nonprofit’s sole Americorps member, Julie Lowe, visits classrooms to build relationships with teachers and students and learn more about what their current curriculum is and how she can better serve that curriculum through the program. She also coordinates with experts from universities and organizations like the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to come in and teach.
Kasey Hovik, the executive director at Umpqua Watersheds, said the kids really bond with Lowe and appreciate the work she puts in.
“What we love about it is the connections in the community,” said Hovik. “To me, what tells it all is when, when one of the kids sees her in the community, they're just so happy to see her and thank her for what they learned at Eastwood and in their own classroom.”
Additionally, after Lowe took her AmeriCorps position, she made an effort to reach out to students beyond the public school system. This year, she wanted to meet kids where they were.
“Normally, we just focus on the public schools because they're easily accessible,” explained Lowe. “But I made a real point to reach out to the kids that I feel like we maybe we haven't been able to reach before and that's important work”
Umpqua Watersheds says it was caught off guard when the Trump administration made deep cuts to AmeriCorps programs. Hovik said the organization will do what they can to keep Lowe on.
“We're going to continue to write grants and raise money to get people in the classrooms one way or another,” said Hovik. “But we definitely want AmeriCorps to come back and believe the program will come back at some point”
Hovik said the organization will use emergency funds to pay Lowe for the rest of her AmeriCorps cycle. He noted how important AmeriCorps has been in their mission of educating the younger generations about the planet.
“To help them understand the various elements of the environment that are a part of the planet, to just have that awareness, and giving kids some fun outdoors is just huge,” said Hovik. “So over the years, our AmeriCorps (employees) are the ones that have been laying these seeds.”
