INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Commission on Community Service and Volunteerism, through the Indiana Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives  announced today that 18 organizations in Indiana will receive a total of $3.8 million in AmeriCorps grants from the Corporation for National and Community Service. AmeriCorps programs in Indiana are administered on behalf of the ICCSV by the OFBCI.

The grants will support a total of 635 full and part-time AmeriCorps members, including a 40 percent increase in full-time members when compared to the previous year. Members will meet such needs as providing housing support, homework help, youth health programming, financial literacy training, disaster response assistance, and aid to military families.

“In tough economic times it is more important than ever for our faith-based communities and nonprofits to step up to help meet human needs challenges,” OFBCI Executive Director, Jim Huston said. “AmeriCorps has partnered with nonprofits and faith organizations all over Indiana to help meet needs and we are very pleased with the announcement of 2012-2013 grant funding.”

On a national level, AmeriCorps engages 80,000 Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service to meet critical needs of a diverse assortment of communities. Members serve through more than 14,000 organizations in rural and urban communities throughout the nation.  Among other accomplishments, AmeriCorps members last year mobilized 3.4 million community volunteers, and educated, mentored or served more than 3.5 million disadvantaged youth.

Since 1994, more than 775,000 Americans have provided more than 1 billion hours of service to their communities and country through AmeriCorps. During just the past year in Indiana, federal funds were awarded to community and faith-based orgs where 705 AmeriCorps*State members were hosted by 300 nonprofits around the state. Those same members have accounted for 303,955 hours spent serving Indiana communities where they have done amazing things like recruiting, placing, and supporting more than 8,411 volunteers and serving over 33,649 disadvantaged youth.

For a complete listing of AmeriCorps*State grantees, please visit: http://www.in.gov/ofbci/2348.htm