The Trump administration has cut funding to AmeriCorps, a national program that deploys members to help with everything from disaster relief to homelessness and supporting senior citizens — including hundreds in Maricopa County.
Jesse Sandoval is the AmeriCorps director for the Area Agency on Aging in Maricopa County. He says he received an email last Friday stating that funding had been cut. He says upwards 500 seniors are now without help.
"We were serving isolated seniors 65 and over, and what that means is they are homebound, and they are people we've identified that do not have family or friends," said Sandoval.
AmeriCorp members help with things like grocery shopping or, in this case, alleviating social isolation.
"We were combating things like depression and anxiety. So, we may be able to connect them to other community resources for transportation, but even those resources have giant wait lists," Sandoval said.
Sandoval had to inform many of the seniors of the cuts.
"They're very heartbreaking, lots of tears, lots of crying, lots of what am I supposed to do now. It is a lot of consoling, letting them know that we have a 24-hour helpline to help them with the fundamental things. But really it's a socialization that they were more afraid to lose," he said.
Sandoval is unclear why the program was cut. He says they were in compliance and had successfully passed their audits.
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