Becca Beckham grew up around the South in a military family. Beckham's family moved every two to four years, and she grew up, she says, with public service in her heart. "The military really shaped my family, and I appreciate everything that it's done," she said. "But I knew in my heart that that is not the path that I wanted to take."
Beckham always knew she wanted to experience more of the United States. In college, she became interested in the Peace Corps, and then AmeriCorps—the federal agency that organizes community service across the nation. "It's this vague, big thing that a lot of people have heard of, but they're not necessarily sure what it does," Beckham said. AmeriCorps, envisioned as the national version of the Peace Corps, was created in 1993 under President Bill Clinton. The agency offers people opportunities to serve communities across the U.S., addressing needs such as education, disaster response, and public health. Beckham joined an AmeriCorps program that led a team of 10 people around the nation for a year, working on disaster relief efforts in Missouri, Colorado, Texas, Alabama, and New York.
Eight years later, Beckham joined AmeriCorps again, this time as a full-time federal employee. In August 2023, she was promoted to portfolio manager, managing the agency's relationships with the nonprofits and other independent service organizations that work with AmeriCorps volunteers.
On April 16, Beckham and the majority of federal AmeriCorps staff were placed on administrative leave, shut out from their jobs as the Trump administration and Elon Musk's DOGE seek to eliminate the agency's annual $1 billion budget. In addition to targeting the agency's federal employees, DOGE ordered AmeriCorps to terminate nearly $400 million in grants, which represents around 41 percent of the agency's total grant funding and affects more than 32,000 AmeriCorps members and volunteers, reported the Washington Post. The loss of these 32,000 service workers has attracted little notice in the press, as many were working with underserved communities. And nonprofits receiving AmeriCorps assistance, such as Louisiana food banks and New York City after-school programs, are scrambling to scrape together funds.
I spoke with Beckham about the life-saving work of AmeriCorps members, the vulnerable populations the agency serves, and the transformative power of volunteering.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Can you tell me about your path towards public service and when you first became interested in working for the government?
I grew up in and around the South, and I really want to experience the United States. So I signed up for this AmeriCorps program called AmeriCorps NCCC. It's short for the National Community Civilian Corps. I applied—there's four different campuses—so I applied for the one here in Denver, Colorado.
You get to live out of a 15-passenger van for a year. ... We drive around in the van, but we stay in different places. We stayed at a camp once in Missouri, working on flood relief alongside with FEMA. Then we went to ... New York City and worked on Sandy relief efforts as well. We were also in Denton, Texas, for a bit, staying at another camp but working more on administrative—rewriting policies and manuals and things like that, alongside FEMA. Then we also came back to Denver, because there was major flooding that happened that year. We mucked and gutted homes and also signed people up for disaster relief. We were out there, boots on the ground.
All these things with hurricanes, tornadoes, specifically in the South, but also wildfires as well. AmeriCorps were some of the first people on the ground alongside FEMA. ... It was one of the best years of my life, and I got to meet some really incredible people. We're all still friends today. That was over 10 years ago. You get to meet people from all different walks of life, folks you would never come across in your normal day-to-day.
When I was in AmeriCorps, I heard of this program called Montana Conservation Corps. I was like, OK, I want to go check out Montana and continue my year of service. I was a crew lead for Montana Conservation Corps based out of Helena, Montana. Again, it's a similar setup as AmeriCorps NCCC, but you're going out and focused primarily on trail work. [It was] another wonderful year, especially spending it in Montana and the neighboring states, just in the backcountry, with a really cool crew of folks. I just got hooked. Once you take a sip of public service, you just want more and more.
I ended up back in Denver and working for AmeriCorps at the agency. It's really cool because it's come full circle. I'm a portfolio manager, and I actually have Montana Conservation Corps in my portfolio. Getting to work with them in this capacity has been incredible. Working with some of the same people that are still there, like when I was a crew leader way back when.
Montana Conservation Corps does an incredible job of bridging the gap of working ... with private owned land by ranchers. We were on some ranch land, and one of the ranchers came and visited us as we were doing the site visit, along with the crew that was there. ... They were putting in wildlife-friendly fencing, because it was along a major corridor for wildlife, specifically elk and things like that. They come up to the fence, they hit it, and they're able to easily knock it down and it would lay completely flat and they can continue their migratory journey. It's things like that, and so, you know? The ranchers [are] like, "Yeah, these kids, they're doing this incredible work." It's a win-win for all the above. But it's more so the conversations that those crew members, those 18- to 24-year-olds are having with the ranchers and vice versa. Getting to take a step in their shoes for however long they're there, for a few weeks to a month or so. It's those conversations that really keep me going.
Montana Conservation Corps is a nonprofit that AmeriCorps works with?
It is a nonprofit that AmeriCorps works with. I like to frame AmeriCorps as an umbrella. It's an independent government agency, and you have all these different programs that fall underneath. But we have three main pillars basically under the umbrella. You have AmeriCorps NCCC. You have AmeriCorps VISTA [and AmeriCorps Seniors.] And then you have AmeriCorps State and National. ... Basically, any nonprofit you've ever seen heard of, most likely they receive AmeriCorps funding. And if they don't currently, they probably have in the past. I think that's one thing that a lot of people don't realize.
AmeriCorps is there to strengthen communities and encourage civic engagement. And it can come in so many different forms. Our main focuses are on education, economic opportunity, healthy futures and environmental stewardship.
So people who work with AmeriCorps, are they considered contractors or are they volunteers? I understand there's a stipend, but they're not full-time government employees, is that correct?
Yes. Myself, I'm a full-time—well, I'm in limbo—but I'm a full-time government employee. But anybody who receives federal funding, like our grantees, they are our grantees. That's normally how we would classify them. ... Anybody that they bring on ... we would call them an AmeriCorps member or volunteer. I know it's very confusing—all of the different flights of service, basically like AmeriCorps NCCC, AmeriCorps VISTA, AmeriCorps State and Nationals, AmeriCorps Seniors—they all are looked at differently.
In terms of looking at corruption and things like that, we're not in the business of making money. The [AmeriCorps] foster grandparents are only making $4 an hour. A lot of these folks are using this in tandem with their social security and retirement, whatever it is that they're getting, and barely making it by, you know? So that's another facet of this that I would want people to know. They're in it for the impact. They're not in it to make to make money, that's for sure.
AmeriCorps Seniors can be broken down into three different programs. You have AmeriCorps FGP, so it's foster grandparents. Some folks hear that, and they think that these grandparents are fostering children. That is not the case. It is more so they are tutored, [they] help with after-school tutoring programs in rural areas.
Alongside AmeriCorps FGP, there's AmeriCorps Senior Companion Program, where we pair seniors with seniors. There is a isolation epidemic amongst seniors right now. It's such a cool program. To be completely honest, before this position, I hadn't worked with seniors, on a personal or professional level. Even on a personal level, I didn't realize how much our seniors, specifically in the United States context, are left out. Their voices are not heard. ... These programs are vital. I personally know seniors that have contemplated suicide until they found out about this program. They have a friend now that they can contact and someone that comes and hangs out with them or brings them a meal with Meals on Wheels and things like that.
Could [you] tell me more about your role as a portfolio manager?
I work within the mountain region. That covers states all the way from Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico ... I primarily work within our sub-region team north, with Montana and Idaho. My day-to-day is a lot of grants management and just making sure that our grantees are up to date on policy regulations. ... My favorite part of the position, though, is project implementation and also just getting to work with such a variety of programs. Within my specific portfolio, I have about 25 grantees.
Right before all of this started happening, I was able to speak with two of my grantees, Idaho State University, and also a seniors program called Jannus Inc. based out of Boise, Idaho. They both were interested in creating a seniors program for very rural areas that did not have [many] programs focused towards seniors. ... We had numerous conversations on what a new project would look like, how that would be implemented, and you know, all the ins and outs of budget and even doing site visits and things like that. It was just incredible to potentially see if they were going to get this awarded or not, and all of it was put to a halt right when this started. It's just such a shame and so sad to see something so close. It would have been such a wonderful thing for their respective communities.
Could you speak a little bit more in-depth about some of the projects that you were most excited or proud about working on?
One of my grantees I was working with was Idaho Department of Corrections—the prison facilities throughout the state of Idaho. It was the first time I have ever worked with a grantee or someone in that capacity. They were, or are, a VISTA program. Unfortunately, I don't know if you've seen the news, but many of our programs have been cut, and that was one of them. It was awful when I got that news.
Folks that are about to be released, they set them up with a mentor. One of the great things about this program is a lot of their mentors have also been previously incarcerated as well, and just keep coming back and working with this organization because of what they do. They try to reduce the recidivism rate, try to keep people from going back in. What they've been able to do is incredible. And I actually had the opportunity, I went and visited. I've done a few site visits with them. One of them, I actually got to go into one of the prisons with them and meet the folks that were going to be released shortly, and just ask them about their experience with the program. It gave them such hope. A lot of them ... said they didn't have anybody. They didn't have anybody to contact or help them with the reintegration of the outside world. So that program is really near and dear to my heart.
You hear a lot about volunteering and the impacts it has on the community. But really, volunteering has so much impact on the volunteer as well, and I feel like that doesn't get talked about enough. What you learn. They give so much, but also the volunteers and the members, they change too.
This mentorship program with the Idaho Department of Corrections was one of the programs that was just cut. So it won't be happening anymore?
I don't know, because when we were all put on admin leave—I believe it was a little over a month ago, April 16—it was a normal work day. ... Everyone in the agency, for the most part, received an email saying, "Hey, you're now on admin, leave. Close down your laptops and your phones." We were also told that we're not allowed to speak to our grantees as well. It was devastating.
We were only getting the information from the news. And I was like, how is this happening? How is this how we're being told what's going on with our own agency? The world is finding out before we're even finding out. Then a few weeks later, they just slashed 41 percent of our programs. I believe more is coming. I was looking through the list, and I saw the Idaho Department of Corrections was one of them on the list. It's just devastating.
We were told not to talk to our grantees, but I have had a few grantees reach out to me, finding me on Facebook and things like that. I have been interacting with them. Because I want to know what's going on. I haven't had contact with them, but I have had contact with a few of our seniors programs. Everybody's terrified, because a lot of nonprofits receive around 50 percent of their budget [from] AmeriCorps federal funding. And if that's gone, then their program is gone. The same thing with Montana Conservation Corps. If they lose their federal funding, so many nonprofits throughout the United States will be gone.
I personally know that—I'm not trying to be dramatic, it's just fact—they wouldn't be able to survive without this funding. I know AmeriCorps seniors that survive on these stipends. Some of them, I know that they would be homeless without this money. I know some AmeriCorps seniors that rely on Meals on Wheels, and they won't get the proper nutrition that they get from that one meal that's delivered. I know kids where they only get their one healthy meal at school. It's awful. I know kids that will not have enough to eat. I know people that will go homeless.
The fire season this year? It's going to be terrible. Shifting to disaster relief, too, like I was saying, AmeriCorps volunteers are some of the first boots on the ground. The first faces that these survivors see, and they're not going to be there. I'm really worried about what our next hurricane and fire season is going to look like because of the lack of AmeriCorps funding and AmeriCorps members just not being there.
Is there anything else you want to share about your experience of being fired?
AmeriCorps was offered ... the deferred resignation program twice. First round, no one really took it. Obviously, it didn't seem legal, first off. Anyway, the second offer came around, and this time it came from our agency CEO, versus a very vague email from DOGE or whatnot.
Having to make this decision or not felt like manipulation. Kind of like ... a forceful hand trying to get everybody [out.] ... As you see in the news, they're trying to do away with the government, it seems, basically. I kept going back and forth, back and forth. I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I love my job. I love my grantees. And my job aside, I fear for the these grantees and these nonprofits. I felt like taking the DRP would be me turning my back on them. Like I said, nobody works for the federal government because they're trying to make money. They do it because they care. They care about their communities. They're just trying to make things a little easier for people.
That Monday and that Tuesday, they started ripping America NCCC volunteers across the states out of the field—immediately putting them on planes that day, sending them home. It was awful, mid-project, just ... "hey, you're going home." The next day is when we were all put on admin leave. For full transparency, I ended up taking the deferred resignation program because I was worried that either I take it to have financial stability at least through September ... or I don't take it, and I fear getting RIFed. ... It felt like I had to be forced to quit this job.
There is a lawsuit currently happening, and I hope that the court does what it's supposed to do. I hope that AmeriCorps can find its way back, because I think irreparable damage has already taken place. And it's going to take a long time to get back to where it was, which is, it's just crazy how much can happen overnight.
How has this firing impacted your personal life?
I have a lot of anger, and I have a lot of rage. And in terms of my personal life, unfortunately I have a lot of friends that are in the same position. A lot of my friends work in public service. This is all we've known. And we've been told, "Hey, now you get to go get find a high-productivity job in the private sector." It's so disrespectful to hear that, and to be called lazy, and to looked at as lazy and say that we don't do anything. There's just a lot of sadness, and it's hard not to just fall into a pit of despair.
When the DEI executive orders came out, we went through every single grant that we have—every single grant. That's thousands and thousands of grants, line by line, looking for anything that could be DEI-related, and had our grantees remove them to try and save them. And it did nothing. Look where we are now.
In terms of even more personal, the majority of my family voted for Trump. So it's so hard for me to separate that. It's been really hard for me to talk to my family and anybody who voted for him at the moment, because it falls down to a difference in morals and values. I've tried to have those conversations, it's just really hard right now.
