I believe we can all agree that crisis – though perhaps not a strong enough term – accurately describes the state of local news media across the United States today.

One key figure makes my point: the number of full-time newsroom jobs dropped to 32,900 in 2015, down from nearly 57,000 in 1990, according to a report by the American Society of News Editors.

While this crisis continues during what appears to be a crucially important moment in American history, it’s encouraging to learn that more and more nonprofits and donors are investing in innovative ways to support local journalism.

An ambitious project announced on Monday aims to strengthen local journalism and help restore public trust in the Fourth Estate by placing at least 1,000 reporters in newsrooms across the country over the next five years. Report for America, led by the GroundTruth Project, a nonprofit media organization, is based on community service projects like Teach for America and AmeriCorps.

The goal is to allow reporters to work on critically important stories while strengthening the ties between newsrooms and the communities they serve.

It works like this: Newsrooms and emerging journalists will apply for the program. After a selection process, Report for America will pay half of a reporter’s salary, with the news organization paying a quarter and local donors contributing another quarter of the salary.

That arrangement will last for a year, with the option to renew if the newsroom takes up a larger share of the costs.

Emerging journalists are defined here as young or recent graduates and those making a career change. Eligible news organizations include local newspapers, radio stations, TV stations and digital publications.

The GroundTruth Project is partnering with Google News Lab, Knight Foundation, Lenfest Institute for Journalism, Galloway Family Foundation, Center for Investigative Reporting, Solutions Journalism Network and other groups.

Google News Lab plans to provide corps members with training on data and digital journalism as well as hardware such as 360-degree cameras. Reporters will also be required to do service projects in the community.

The project was first designed by co-founder Steve Waldman, an entrepreneur and former national editor for US News & World Report. The other co-founder is Charles Sennott, founder and CEO of The GroundTruth Project and a longtime reporter, editor and entrepreneur.

“At a time of deep divisions in America, this is really a patriotic call to service, an invitation to a new generation to go and live and report in local communities in rural Appalachia, or the border towns of Texas or in faded industrial towns of the Midwest, or to any community where stories that enlighten and inform need to be told,” Sennott said in a news release.

The project is slated to launch in early 2018. Successful applicants need to show they have the skills to make an impact in local communities. As for newsrooms, Waldman told Poynter that they have to show the Report for America board they plan to use the emerging journalist for civically important journalism, “not just clickbait.”

Having worked in three local newspapers in Connecticut in recent years, I know how fast newsrooms are shrinking and how essential local journalism is for communities around the country. I applaud this effort by GroundTruth and I hope it turns into impactful journalism that will help the public trust our industry again.

I doubt this effort will significantly change the number of newsroom jobs around the country, but it may show philanthropists, local organizations and even the audience itself that it’s worth investing in local journalism. I certainly hope so.