Jill Schramm/MDN AmeriCorps members Trey Burk and Kylie Anderson are shown at the Souris Basin Planning Council office Thursday, Aug. 14. They were able to continue in AmeriCorps through SBPC’s partnerships with Strengthen ND after SBPC’s funds were cut earlier this year.

After learning this past spring that federal funds for its Community Builder Program were terminated, Souris Basin Planning Council successfully worked to find outside help to keep its AmeriCorps sites staffed. It now looks to revive the program, thanks to new funds approved for the coming year.

SBPC Program Coordinator Victoria Nicholson said SBPC is recruiting eligible agencies interested in hosting AmeriCorps members, with the potential to start those positions by the end of this year.

SBPC has been awarded $208,782 in federal dollars through Serve ND, which will allow the placement of 24 AmeriCorps members statewide. It will receive additional direct federal funds for three AmeriCorps VISTA members. Both sources had pulled back money earlier this year, stating only that SBPC’s program no longer aligned with agency priorities.

Four of six AmeriCorps members impacted by SBPC’s loss of federal funds have been able to stay on due to the ability and willingness of Strengthen ND to step into the gap with its AmeriCorps program, which was not cut.

Strengthen ND and SBPC have been strong partners in the past, so they rallied quickly behind their shared interest in keeping AmeriCorps members in place, Nicholson said. A plan came together in less than a month to make SBPC a host site within Strengthen ND’s AmeriCorps program.

“North Dakotans are people who always lend a helping hand,” said Beth Odahlen, Strengthen ND director of Community Engagement and Solution, in a prepared statement. “When North Dakota AmeriCorps programs were eliminated this past spring, Strengthen ND knew that it was our responsibility, as a fellow North Dakota AmeriCorps program, to lend a helping hand. I am reminded that AmeriCorps and North Dakota have a similar mentality: both strive to strengthen communities and to ‘Get Things Done!’ By providing the opportunity for AmeriCorps members to continue to serve their communities, we are contributing to this mentality.”

Thanks to the collaboration, AmeriCorps member Kylie Anderson, who works with SBPC in AmeriCorps member development, is completing her year of service, with just over a month left.

“I’ve really loved getting to work with Souris Basin and Victoria and being able to fill my role as someone who helps others find the opportunity that I had,” said Anderson, who already has committed more than 2½ years to AmeriCorps in total.

This past year, Anderson also has spoken to high school students about AmeriCorps and assisted with event planning.

“It’s not something I pictured myself doing. Before I started AmeriCorps, I never really thought of myself as a people person,” Anderson said. During her first term with the Minot Area Council of the Arts, that image of herself changed.

“It really brought me out of my shell and gave me the courage, the confidence to be able to say ‘yes’ to Souris Basin’s offer of going and talking to people for my job – being a professional people person,” she said. “Now, it feels very right. It feels like it’s given me a lot of purpose and a lot of direction into where I want my career – where I want my future – to go. But I never would have pictured myself doing this, and it’s such a welcome surprise.”

Trey Burk has been able to continue the AmeriCorps work he started last January as marketing coordinator for the Mountrail County Job Development Authority. He manages the JDA’s social media and email marketing campaigns.

“What I’ve enjoyed most about it is the opportunity to learn from working. For me, this line of work goes hand in hand with what I’ve been learning in college,” said Burk, who is close to finishing his marketing degree. He said he plans to commit another year to the JDA through AmeriCorps.

Other AmeriCorps members who started with SBPC have been able to continue their positions with FARRMS and the Plum River Prairie Project at Minot State University because of the Strengthen ND partnership. Nicholson said two other sites, in Dickinson and Rugby, opted not to continue.

Commitments of the AmeriCorps members will be concluding between September and December, depending on their original start dates.

“It is looking like all four members that continued are going to have successful terms, get all their hours in, earn their educational awards,” Nicholson said.

The focus now is on finding AmeriCorps placement sites for the coming year and rebuilding relationships with past host sites. Nicholson said SBPC also wants to diversify its funding for the Community Builder Program. She noted SBPC is pursuing grant opportunities that would reduce some host agencies’ cost-share requirements and make participation in the program more feasible.