TAMPA, Fla. — New federal budget cuts to AmeriCorps are affecting programs in the Tampa Bay region. 

Officials with Metropolitan Ministries said they need to reorganize their Metro BrigAIDe program, which had 30 AmeriCorps members serving the homeless community in Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco counties. 

Matthew Fertitta is one of the staff members affected by the cuts. 

"Our managers called an emergency mandatory meeting between all three counties and canceled all sites, so I was immediately pretty sure that what was happening was that DOGE was cutting our program," he said.  

Fertitta isn't the only one caught off guard. 

John Paul Comas, the senior director of BrigAIDe Mobile Outreach, said he found out from Volunteer Florida about the cuts through an email. 

"It was a gut punch," he said. "It was devastating to know that it could be done so quickly."

Since 2018, Metro BrigAIDe has helped thousands of people living on the street gain access to the resources they need. 

Metropolitan Ministries is not letting the program end, though.

In response to the federal cuts, the organization is moving $550,000 to create 11 positions to keep Metro BrigAIDe going.

Comas said the program makes such a big impact, it would be devastating if it disappeared.

"Help with identification, access to benefits, Social Security, health care, transportation, employment, shelter and housing, reunifying families," he said. "These are some of the life-saving services that we provide to the folks that are out there on the streets and it was shut down in a way that is just hurtful and harmful to the community." 

Metropolitan Ministries leaders say part of the reorganization includes a new staffing model and securing the money needed to keep the BrigAIDe critical services going.