PITTSFIELD, Mass. — AmeriCorps Senior programs were spared from federal funding cuts, but contracts were amended by executive orders from the Trump administration.

Language related to gender, gender identity, and gender expression was removed.

"We received two executive orders since the Trump-Vance administration took office to remove the language of (diversity, equity, and inclusion) from the grant, and that was across the states," Retired Senior Volunteer Program Director Lisa Torrey reported to the City Council on Tuesday.

"All AmeriCorps Seniors programs were directed to do the same thing in order to remain in compliance."

She added that the city still needs to comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

The council accepted a $50,000 grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps) for RSVP. The 2025 contract states that the recipient will comply with "all applicable Federal statutes, applicable executive orders, regulations and guidelines, and any amendments thereto."

When Councilor at Large Alisa Costa asked Torrey if this would impact services for people who fall into the categories removed from the grant language, she said, "Absolutely not."

"RSVP is still committed to making sure that everyone gets equal access to services, for certain," Torrey said.

Federal cuts to AmeriCorps grants have affected local organizations such as Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity and Greenagers. As an AmeriCorps Seniors program, RSVP has been spared from cuts for now.

"The agencies that had cuts to their program were specifically AmeriCorps and not AmeriCorps Seniors," Torrey explained.

"The AmeriCorps program, under that umbrella, it's generally younger people pursuing volunteer opportunities. Under AmeriCorps Seniors, none of the programs were cut."

AmeriCorps Seniors, for people ages 55-plus, matches more than 143,000 volunteers per year with service opportunities offered by partner organizations.

Changes to the 2025 General Terms and Conditions for the grant include an added reference to "applicable executive orders" and removed references to gender, gender identity, and gender expression from the section on non-discrimination, public notice, and records compliance.

The section on public notice of non-discrimination still requires this language in recruitment materials and applications:

"This program is available to all, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, religion, age, national origin, genetic information, disability, military status,
familial status, political affiliation, or any other characteristic protected by law."

The council also referred Councilor at Large Earl Persip III's request to create a secure personal belongings locker program for individuals experiencing homelessness to Mayor Peter Marchetti.

Earlier this month, the council sent a proposed ordinance that bans encampments on any street, sidewalk, park, open space, waterway, or banks of a waterway to the Ordinances and Rules Subcommittee, the Homelessness Advisory Committee, and the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Task Force.

Persip said this is a "low-hanging fruit" solution that was brought up during conversation about the camping ordinance.

"This is an easy one for me, low-hanging fruit. We can start the process. We can start looking at locations and things and get some input and have those conversations," he said.

"Because it's very hard to make a dent in these situations. I think we can make a little, little, small dent here."

The program would be modeled after the Keys to Dignity Locker Program in Madison, Wis., which provides unhoused individuals with safe, weather-resistant lockers to store essential personal items such as identification, clothing, documents, and other belongings.

In Pittsfield, the program would implement secure lockers throughout the city in collaboration with businesses and nonprofits, reduce the risk of theft that further burdens unhoused individuals, and establish guidelines for locker contents and designate an oversight authority.  It is said to serve as a "critical step" towards supporting individuals as they seek housing, employment, and social services.

Marchetti pointed to the city’s $4.6 million investment in supportive housing and a Housing Resource Center, "And it's imperative that we have the conversations to ensure that when those doors open, it works as we believe it should."

"I want to be very careful that whatever we do doesn't jeopardize the success of the Housing Resource Center when we get there, because from my understanding, this is the first in the state kind of facility that's being built, and we need to ensure that we do it and do it right, and it's used the way that we intended to be used," he said.

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