The Americana World Community Center in South Louisville has served marginalized and underserved communities for 30 years. Now, it could close due to federal policy changes that target diversity, equity and inclusion programs nationwide.
Americana is one of many organizations targeted under the Trump administration's executive orders against DEI programs.
In his inaugural address, President Donald Trump touted his support for a “merit-based” United States and called DEI programs discriminatory.
The crackdown on diversity also prompted larger companies like Google, Amazon and Target to end their policies for being equitable and inclusive workplaces.
Trump’s executive orders to revoke DEI apply to affirmative action policies at universities and in the workplace and to programs — like Americana — that support marginalized communities with assistance from federal grants.
One of those grants includes “Challenge America,” from the National Endowment for the Arts, which will be cancelled by 2026. The grant funds Americana’s Fiberworks program, an arts and educational group for refugee and immigrant women in Louisville. These women then sell their artwork online and build entrepreneurial skills.
“[Fiberworks creates] a sense of belonging in a newly established place that may be unfamiliar to them,” said Americana executive director Emilie Dyer.
Americana also faces losing its GED program for adults, which is the second-largest program in Kentucky, Dyer said.
The nonprofit also offers an array of other services including free tax prep and assistance, English language learning classes and mental health counseling. Seven partners including Family Health Centers and JCPS also have their own programs with Americana.
Dyer said she and her staff did not expect to be this close to closing their doors.
“There's a lot of fear and frustration, uncertainty, a lot of sadness,” Dyer said on Tuesday.
Before she took the lead role, Dyer said she was a family coach at Americana for 14 years. For her, the community center is a vital resource for all Louisvillians. The facility often works with refugees, immigrants and low-income people and families.
“We have a commitment to this work and to this mission,” Dyer said. “The things that we do are valuable to our community. They provide security and stability, and we see that every day through our participants, through their dedication and resilience in the face of hardship, their dedication to their own education, to their own economic stability, through pursuing workforce opportunities that are available to them that provide overall safety and stability to the entire community.”
In a Facebook post Monday, Americana officials said they could shut down as early as April if they don’t earn enough funding. The community center started a fundraising campaign in hopes of raising $150,000 by the end of March and $520,000 by June.
Dyer said she doesn’t anticipate Americana will cancel any of its programs during the funding deficit. The money from the campaign would not only continue to fund operational costs, but Dyer said it would also help cover utilities for the entire building.
“Our goal is to continue to provide all of these services through the end of the year, as we're developing a plan and making hard decisions about how to progress from there,” Dyer said.
Dyer worries most about the future of some of the programs if they don’t reach their fundraising goals. This includes initiatives like the community garden, which Dyer said provides 6,000 pounds of fresh produce a year to the Americana community.
“I believe that the security and safety of this community is insured by organizations like Americana,” Dyer said. “And that may not be understood very well, but it would be felt in its absence.”
