Originally published in The Richmond Times-Dispatch

Letter to the editor: Sept 1, 2020: Support, funding needed for bipartisan CORPS Act

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

As talks between the White House and Congress stall, Americans still are grappling with the crippling impact of the coronavirus pandemic. To move our country forward, we need to bring Americans together to help communities respond to and recover from COVID-19. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has a plan to do just that through the CORPS Act, which would expand and strengthen AmeriCorps to provide critically needed services and give Americans purpose-driven work, a living stipend and help to pay for college.

Since the outbreak, AmeriCorps and Senior Corps members in Richmond and across the state have been expanding food pantry capacity, tutoring students, and helping patients receive proper health care and access to social services. But we need more boots on the ground. Congress should include the funding and provisions from the CORPS Act in the coronavirus aid and economic stimulus package. It’s a bipartisan solution to an urgent problem.

Nicole Vera.

Reading Partners.

Vienna.