Overview: The California Service Corps (CSC) is recruiting 10,000 paid members throughout the state to gain experience, serve their communities, and build career skills. CSC members aid communities by striving to end hunger, taking climate action, helping areas impacted by disasters, mentoring students, and connecting vulnerable people to needed resources. In response to recent funding cuts, Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to defend thousands of hardworking service members and the communities they serve. CSC fellows shared their experiences and impact on their communities.
Alyssah Hall
Feeding America Riverside – San Bernardino, in partnership with the California Service Corps (CSC), announced that the CSC is currently recruiting 10,000 paid members throughout the state to gain experience, serve their communities and build career skills.
CSC is a service force that consists of AmeriCorps California, California Climate Action Corps, #CaliforniansForAll College Corps and Youth Service Corps. CSC members aid communities by striving to end hunger, taking climate action, helping areas impacted by disasters, mentoring students to help them succeed and connecting vulnerable people to needed resources.
“What we’re seeing from these programs, from the California Service Corps, is that we’re not just making an impact today, we’re making college more affordable, we’re making job training more accessible, and we’re building community,” California’s Chief Service Officer, Josh Fryday said during the press conference hosted hosted at Feeding America’s Hunger Resource Center in Riverside on April 29.
While addressing the crowd, Fryday acknowledged the recent announcement from Elon Musk’s DOGE service which plans to cut about 40% of AmeriCorps total grant funding – nearly $400 million, according to a report by The Washington Post.
“…We are so extremely disheartened to see the federal action that we’ve seen over the last couple days, dismantling AmeriCorps and terminating grants that are helping our communities every single day,” Fryday said. “However, we also want to be clear that these cuts are not going to weaken our resolve here in the state of California and in the Inland Empire to continue to invest in service.”
In response to the cuts, Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit, alongside Attorney General Rob Bonta, against the Trump administration for dismantling AmeriCorps.
“Service sits at the very core of who we are as Americans. California is suing the Trump administration to defend thousands of hardworking service members and the communities they serve,” Newsom stated in a press release. “These actions by President Trump and Elon Musk not only threaten our funding – they vandalize our values. We’re going to fight to stop them.”
Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson also attended the event and shared that it has been her long time goal to create more workforce development opportunities for the young residents in the Inland Empire. When Lock Dawson heard about the CSC initiative a couple years ago, she was eager to work with Fryday to get the programs started at Riverside’s City Hall.
Since then, 14 of the past CSC participants have been placed into full time paid positions at Riverside City Hall after joining the program, according to Lock Dawson.
“California service corps members are curious, hard working and ambitious individuals. You can ask my staff. They’re the bedrock of my office, answering phones, doing research, event planning, crafting social media, and even writing my talking points,” Lock Dawson said.
At the Feeding America Riverside| San Bernardino organization, they strive daily for families across the IE to have enough food on their tables, especially during their hardest times. Last year they gave out over 35 million pounds of food to their neighbors, including 18 million pounds of surplus food from grocery partners that they used to nourish families instead of the extra food ending up in landfills.
“This incredible impact was made possible thanks to the dedication of nearly 2,500 unique volunteers who gave their time and energy to support our mission. But like many nonprofits, we operate with limited budgets and must rely heavily on the generosity of volunteers and donors to sustain critical services. In our sector it’s common to wear many hats, and when support is stretched thin, these hats multiply fast,” said Carolyn Solar, chief executive officer at Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino.
Two of the CSC fellows that spoke at the press conference were Quetzaly Salinas, a University of California, Riverside college corps fellow and Gregory Santana Huerta a Youth Service Corps member within Dawson’s office. Both Salinas and Huerta shared their experiences so far in their respective CSC branches and the impact these positions have had on them.
“Food Insecurity is a crisis that affects millions, but together, we can be part of the solution. Programs like College Corps are helping shape the next generation of leaders, and I am proud to be one of them, because at the end of the day, a meal should not be a luxury. It is a basic human right, and the more of us that step up, the stronger our community becomes,” Salinas said.