ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is marking milestones in debris cleanup in Western North Carolina, state officials say other Tropical Storm Helene recovery efforts are being hindered by federal funding cuts.

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Corporation for National and Community Service, also known as AmeriCorps, alleging the agency unlawfully terminated congressionally approved grants that support jobs and disaster recovery programs in the region.

“These funds — which Congress already appropriated for North Carolina — are creating jobs, cleaning up storm damage and helping families rebuild,” Jackson said in a statement. “AmeriCorps must follow the law so that people in Western North Carolina can confidently move forward.”

On April 15, AmeriCorps ordered more than 50 full-time volunteers working on Helene recovery efforts in WNC to cease operations. The order was part of a broader termination affecting more than 750 volunteers with the National Civilian Community Corps nationwide.

Ten days later, North Carolina officials were notified that AmeriCorps would also cut off several grant programs administered through the N.C. Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service. Impacted programs include:

  • Project MARS (Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western North Carolina), which employs 45 people who served 18 WNC counties, delivering supplies and meals to homebound and stranded families, distributing food and clothing, assisting shelters and crisis hotlines, and supporting schools as they reopened.
  • Project Conserve, which employs 25 people who partnered with local organizations in 25 WNC counties to perform debris removal, tree replanting, storm-system repairs and rain-barrel distribution.
  • Project POWER, which employs 14 people who assisted more than 10,500 disaster-affected individuals in Buncombe, Henderson, and Madison counties by coordinating large-scale food donations, setting up distribution sites, conducting wellness checks and managing cleanup efforts.

Jackson and 24 other attorneys general allege that AmeriCorps violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution by halting programs funded by Congress. In North Carolina, eight of 19 AmeriCorps programs are being terminated, resulting in the loss of 202 jobs.

Jackson is joined in the lawsuit by attorneys general from Maryland, Delaware, California, Colorado, Arizona, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.