Public Allies Indianapolis has been defunded after federal cuts

Megan Haines said her face fell when she opened an email during her friend’s 30th birthday celebration the last Saturday of April.

The email said federal funding had been cut for her position at Pack Away Hunger, a nonprofit that helps stock food pantries. She couldn’t go back to work that Monday.

“I had seen things leading up to it on LinkedIn and wherever else,” Haines said. “But it really was just, like, overnight. I don’t know how it happened so fast.”

Haines was one of a dozen members of Public Allies Indianapolis, a 10-month AmeriCorps program that places emerging leaders at nonprofits and supports them through weekly training sessions. Public Allies is a national program that started in 1992. It’s been in Indianapolis for the last 16 years.

On April 25, program directors for the Public Allies Indianapolis program were notified by phone that their program had been cut following funding cuts from the Department of Government Efficiency. Employees like Haines started getting notices a day later.

The Indianapolis program was part of a larger series of cuts to AmeriCorps programs, which lost $400 million out of the $557 million Congress had approved for this year. Now, more than 20 states are suing the Trump administration to reverse the decision. Indiana, though, is not one of those states.

For now, all the programming at Public Allies Indianapolis is on hold. They will officially exit their roles by May 23. The 12 members can’t go back to work at their placements, and their graduation ceremony won’t happen.

At Pack Away Hunger, Haines helped create recipes for the program’s meal kits. She was in the process of creating a program to provide Indianapolis Public Schools students with meal kits in the summer. But after the funding cuts, the program has been put on hold.

Sharon Logan, who leads Public Allies Indianapolis, said she received an email after business hours April 25 from Serve Indiana — the organization that oversees the state’s AmeriCorps programs. She said in the email, Serve Indiana said it expected a large percentage of programs to be cut. The organization was not sure which programs would be affected, but expected confirmation soon.

She said Serve Indiana verbally confirmed later that evening that Public Allies Indianapolis would be defunded. Logan is also the deputy director of the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center, the organization that manages Public Allies Indianapolis.

“There’s no reasoning for why these programs were selected to be cut in the midst of a contract,” Logan said, “so we’re still figuring that out.”

She said the organizations the allies work with are already feeling the impact.

“All of our organizations that have an ally are doing meaningful work,” Logan said. “They were starting to wrap up, but they weren’t there yet. And so all of those projects are gonna just lose sustainability.”

‘DOGE isn’t creating efficiency — it’s hurting people’

America’s Service Commission, the organization that runs AmeriCorps, released a statement criticizing the cuts April 26.

“This sudden termination will shutter more than 1,000 programs and prematurely end the service of over 32,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers. It will also leave communities across the country without crucial services.”

In an emailed statement to Mirror Indy, U.S. Rep. André Carson, D-Indianapolis, said “DOGE isn’t creating efficiency — it’s hurting people.”

“AmeriCorps volunteers receive a modest living allowance to help make our communities better — there is nothing partisan about the work they do,” Carson said in the partial statement. “Cutting this program is a blow not only to dedicated AmeriCorps public servants, but to the hundreds of families they serve.”

U.S. Rep. Jefferson Shreve, a Republican who represents parts of the south side, declined an interview with Mirror Indy last week and did not provide a statement. In an email, his office told Mirror Indy “the congressman’s schedule is packed this week and we’re unable to make a call work.”

Members say changes happening ‘really abruptly’

On May 2, the group received their last payment from their stipends. Everyone who takes part in the program also gets health insurance, food stamps, child care assistance and money to use for education, whether that’s paying off student loans or taking classes. They will have health insurance until the end of May.

Destiny Pokalsey, a public ally who works at Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center, said the Public Allies National Office met with the group on May 1.

“He was reading off of a paper about, ‘Oh, these are the things. You may not get food stamps anymore. You may not do this,’” said Destiny Pokalsey, another public ally, who served her placement at INRC. “We were just told that we can’t do the last two months of our service. Everything is ending really, really abruptly.”

Pokalsey, 26, is in her second term of AmeriCorps service with Public Allies. She worked as the data and engagement coordinator for INRC, alongside several coworkers who are alumni of the program.

“On the call, they said that once our term of service ends, our benefits end,” she added. “They give us a mutual aid form. And I’m like, ‘OK, that’s great, but is there a guarantee with that? You know, because I have to pay rent.’”

Pokalsey described the cohort as “under suspension,” and Logan has said they still need to do exit interviews and final paperwork with everyone. So, they’re not sure what aspects of the program — like a final group service project or graduation — will continue.

Every year, the Public Allies cohort splits into groups that plan and lead service projects. Pokalsey’s group was supposed to do their service day May 2. They were going to pack hygiene boxes to give to a local nonprofit that serves young homeless people.

“My biggest worry when I heard that news was, what’s going to happen with our service day? Are we still going to be able to give them the things that we promised them?”

They had already bought the items, so Pokalsey and the two others on her team volunteered their time on May 1 to finish packing and distributing the boxes. The service project that Haines’ team of Public Allies had planned won’t happen any more.

They were planning a community clean up, and she was going to buy the supplies on April 28. She also won’t get to finish one of her main goals as a Public Ally: Starting a partnership between IPS and Pack Away Hunger to feed kids during summer break.

Haines was one of two public allies placed at Pack Away Hunger. Without them, the nonprofit only has three people left on staff. In the few days since losing her position there, she’s been driving for Door Dash to make some extra money.

She’d been planning to start applying for jobs in mid-May, giving her about 45 days to find a job before her 10-month term ended.

“I am worried about myself, but I know I have a safety net. I know I have a family I can fall back on. I know my mom will help me any way she can. I can work another job, I can find more jobs. I’m not worried about me,” she said.

It’s the people Public Allies serve that she’s concerned about.

“I’m in a food distribution nonprofit, so it just doesn’t make sense. It really doesn’t,” Haines said. “I see firsthand the people that are benefiting. And it’s not like it’s a four-course meal. It’s a pack of rice.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.

Mirror Indy reporter Darian Benson covers east Indianapolis. Contact her at 317-397-7262 or [email protected]. Follow her on X @HelloImDarian or on Bluesky @darianbenson.bsky.social.

Mirror Indy reporter Sophie Young covers services and resources. Contact her at [email protected].

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