Some Central Coast volunteer service groups are feeling the impact of federal funding cuts, with changes and layoffs now happening.
Nearly $400 million worth of grants were recently cut from AmeriCorps, a national public service program.
Darlene Azevedo, Cuesta College Corps coordinator, said the layoffs and changes happened abruptly.
"We didn't have any lead or idea that was going to happen," she said.
Local service organizations have lost AmeriCorps employees due to national funding cuts from DOGE, forcing them to eliminate full-time employees earlier this week with no warning.
"I work from home Monday morning, so I was logging on to my laptop and I got the call that I wasn't allowed to serve," said City Farm SLO AmeriCorps fellow Kate Ditrani.
Sophie Genung is a Cal Poly student who had planned to intern with the Junior Giants. Her program was run through AmeriCorps.
"I had my housing planned out. I was counting on the money that was supposed to be coming from it, and I'm from out of state," she said.
The program was written into law by Congress more than 30 years ago. It provided government stipends to more than 200,000 people annually to help in volunteerism and service throughout the nation.
City Farm SLO, Cal Poly, and Cuesta College are just some of the local organizations directly affected.
"Running a nonprofit, you usually have a small staff, so getting those extra supports really help," Azevedo said.
"It definitely is really unsure. I don't know if like, what if I get compensated for the hours I'm volunteering now or if they're just volunteers," Ditrani said.
Some of the local organizations say they are struggling to pick up the work that their AmeriCorps employees handled and they are working to find a way to reemploy them but are uncertain with their current budget.
More than 20 states, including California, have sued the Trump administration because of the cuts.
