SELF! LV AmeriCorps VISTA
SELF Lehigh Valley VISTA
Please consider this exciting opportunity to contribute to our mission, gain valuable work experience and receive a small living allowance all at the same time.
All United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley AmeriCorps VISTA assignments will expand capacity towards population level goals across the region. UWGLV strives to create population level change in areas of education, food access, healthy aging and emergency services to ensure individuals who experience crisis have the supports they need to rebound. The UWGLV VISTA project focuses on strengthening the networks of providers that deliver services to address concerns and through working with UWGLV staff they support the efforts across all four-issue areas. VISTAs address issues at the programmatic and system levels seeking to identify and deal with the root causes by utilizing the collective impact framework.
An AmeriCorps VISTA assignment is a federal volunteer opportunity for which you commit to a year of service and receive a living allowance. Participants must be 18 years of age and have a combination of community service and/or equivalent college experience. They receive an end-of-service stipend or education award, health coverage, training, a relocation allowance, a living allowance and childcare assistance if eligible. The work is full-time; VISTAs are permitted to do paid part-time work during their assignment to supplement their income. Our AmeriCorps VISTAs work closely with our community impact team, assignments are based in our UW office, school districts, partner agencies and community schools.
Service Opportunity Description
SELF! is a reentry program in the Lehigh Valley that works with Allentown women with criminal backgrounds, however programming is inclusive to all women including LGBTQ+ dealing with Reentry whether it is from incarceration, as a domestic violence survivor, homelessness, fire victimization or those new to the area. SELF! Also serves at risk youth and children with incarcerated parents. The SELF LV VISTA will support and work with the organization’s staff and volunteers to build a project planning and management infrastructure for sustainable processes to systematically work towards expanding programming without compromising service to our disenfranchised community. The VISTA will engage in the following activities: (1) Create a project planning and management infrastructure for the organization (2) Work on developing and distributing resources materials (3) Coordination, recruitment, and outreach of community volunteers (4) Create a data collection tool for a community needs assessment and perform a gap analysis of findings. Finally, (5) Research grant and financial opportunities available to address the needs of the community and work with Executive Director to write a grant proposal. The VISTA will work with SELF! to provide clients the resources to get their life back with a support team trained to understand gender specific prison survivor and provide them the support they need every step of their journey to become their true SELF!.
This assignment is full-time and requires a 1-year commitment. The position is based at SELF Lehigh Valley. For more information, please contact Jennifer Nicolosi, Asst. Director, AmeriCorps Programs at jennifern@unitedwayglv.org
United Way of the Greater LV is an EEO employer - M/F/Vets/Disabled