challenges. In FY 2008, 60 percent of members served in the Gulf Coast Region on multiple team deployments assisting local communities to recover from the effects of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike, Dolly, and Wilma. Hurricane Katrina response AmeriCorps NCCC, a team-based residential program for 18–24 year-olds, has made Hurricane Katrina response its primary focus these past three years, deploying more than 4,000 members to intensive assignments in the Gulf. National Civilian Community Corps members have refurbished 9,500 homes, built 1,450 new homes, completed 52,000 damage assessments, and trained and supervised more than 227,000 volunteers. Criticisms AmeriCorps (which includes the NCCC program) is a US federally funded "network of more than 3,000 non-profit organizations, public agencies, and faith-based organizations." AmeriCorps has met with sharp criticisms from fiscal conservatives who accused it of being a "boondoggle", most notably by libertarian James Bovard in a Fox News article that covered proposals to cut funding for the program. See also AmeriCorps Camp Hope Community service National service Service learning Volunteerism Youth service References External links NCCC official web site AmeriCorps organizations Service year programs in the United States Environmental organizations based in Washington, D.C. Emergency organizations AmeriCorps