Federal Grants to Expand AmeriCorps Total $234-Milllion

In its efforts to expand the AmeriCorps program, the federal government announced it has given $234-million in grants to nonprofit and other organizations to put 57,000 AmeriCorps members to work in communities around the country, writes the Associated Press.

The grants are the first to be released under a new law President Obama signed last year, which aims to triple the national-service program by 2017. States and territories will also get $129-million for AmeriCorps slots. All told, officials hope to have 85,000 people in the program this year.

Teach for America, the program that trains top college students to teach in poor areas, received $11.4-million, the largest grant, for 6,621 AmeriCorps members.

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