Funded Programs
Funded AmeriCorps Programs for the 2011 – 2012 Program Year
For more information about becoming an AmeriCorps member at Spartanburg School District Seven, please contact Leonard Starks at ljstarks@spart7.org.
The United Way of Anderson County grant focuses on school completion. Ten AmeriCorps members are placed in a variety of nonprofit organizations in Anderson County to serve (1) youth in after school programs and community service activities, (2) adults in school completion programs and GED classes, and (3) young mothers who are seeking college degrees with all programs having a mentoring and/or tutoring component for participants.
Interested AmeriCorps applicants must be 18 years of age and have a high school diploma. Criminal background checks and drug testing are required. Applications are accepted year round with the grant year running August 1 through July 31.
For more information about becoming an AmeriCorps member at United Way of Anderson, please contact Brandy Singleton at brandy.singleton@uwandersoncty.com.
WINGS FOR KIDS
Forty-two Corps members will serve as WINGSLeaders, serving low-income elementary school students in the after school setting. WINGS is an education organization that teaches kids how to behave well, make good decisions, and build healthy relationships. AmeriCorps members deliver a program model directly to elementary school kids living in poverty in the extended learning time (ELT) setting. The program weaves a comprehensive social and emotional (SEL) curriculum of 30 objectives into a fresh and fun after school program. By attending WINGS, kids get the life lessons they need to succeed and to be happy, and they get a safe place to call home after school.
All members must be enrolled in an institution of higher learning (college, community college, etc.) and available Monday – Friday from 2:00 – 6:30 pm for the entire school year. A full week of mandatory pre-service training begins on August 8 and runs from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm.
For more information about becoming an AmeriCorps member at WINGS for Kids, please contact Nicole Lovecchio at nicole@wingsforkids.org.
The Financial Stability Project (FSP) of Trident United Way (TUW) uses a sequential and interrelated continuum framework of interventions that create sustainable change. The framework begins with addressing basic needs, then increasing basic skills, followed by increasing income, increasing savings and finally gaining and sustaining assets.
AmeriCorps members serve as FSP Navigators and are placed in hub facilities and help individuals and families gain access to resources that mitigate financial or family crisis and support stability. Navigators help identify and recruit individuals for a range of adult education classes, including GED and WorkKeys, offered in their hubs. They also assist individuals with identifying resources necessary to help them become financially stable, such as emergency assistance, access to benefits and educational/employment preparation opportunities and referrals to the Volunteer Income Tax Association (VITA) Coalition and other human services.
CHARLESTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT
Project Hero (Helping to Enrich Reading Opportunities), a tutoring initative, is supported by AmeriCorps Members. The Corps Members serve a total of 675 hours during the Charleston School District academic year. Each AmeriCorps Member serving 20 hours a week with a total of ten students are assigned to one of the elementary schools in Charleston County School District's Innovation Zone Learning Community (IZLC). The Corps Members are assisgned to give individual support for students or to serve with a small group of students to improve literacy skills.
For more information please contact Katy Simison at katy_simison@charleston.k12.sc.us.
EDGEFIELD COUNTY SCHOOLS
The Edgefield County School District “Success By Ten” AmeriCorps Program is made up of 65 Strom Thurmond High School Seniors. The main focus of the “Success By Ten” is to offer tutoring services for the county’s four elementary schools. The group also does tutoring on a “needs” basis at the Middle Schools and at their high school. Several opportunities are offered to the members to tutor at the local town library, through March Madness Reading focus and with individual communities where parents have called in to get tutoring assisting for their children. The local Edgefield AmeriCorps programmembers also participate in a wide variety of community projects. Through these activities, the "Success By Ten" AmeriCorps Program has been recognized throughout the communities of Edgefield County as a group of high school students who have been prepared for their future as citizens who will give to their communities for the best interest of all.
For more information about how to become an AmeriCorps member at Edgefield County School District, please contact Cassandra Scott at ctscott@edgefield.k12.sc.us.
Twenty Corps members serve as tutors and mentors to Kindergarten to 5th grade students in six schools in Lancaster County. In addition, AmeriCorps members provide community service in collaboration with local faith based organizations and conduct community volunteer recruitment activities, complete disaster preparedness training, and receive CPR Training. Members must be able to serve 7:30AM To 2:00PM (during school hours), have a high school diploma or GED, and have at least 60 hours of college credit. Members will serve from August 15 2011 to May 18 2012.
For more information about how to become an AmeriCorps member at Lancaster County School District, please contact Mary Wise at mwise@lcsd.k12.sc.us.
CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY
Claflin Saturday Academy is an AmeriCorps program operating through the Department of Education at Claflin University. The goal of Claflin Saturday Academy is to engage volunteers as tutors to improve student achievement in reading and writing at the middle school level. The Academy will offer supplemental group instruction and individual tutoring by qualified and trained AmeriCorps members in reading and writing to middle school students. Each member selected will be trained to tutor students as set forth by the guidelines of the program. Members are comprised primarily of college level students but any qualified individual may apply.
Unlike many tutoring programs that focus on subject matter, Claflin Saturday Academy is designed to enhance students reading and writing skills through interactive instruction and tutoring. Claflin Saturday Academy is held on Saturday morning from 9:00AM-4:00PM at the Claflin University campus.
For more information about how to become an AmeriCorps member at Claflin University, please contact Brad Aull at baull@claflin.edu.
The goal of the United Way of Greenville County-Pickens County AmeriCorps program is Financial Stability. Twenty-seven members split between Greenville County and Pickens County serve within community agencies to provide direct service to residents. Members serve in the following programs: Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA), The Benefit Bank, Individual Development Account program (IDA), Communities in Schools, Shi Center for Sustainability at Furman University, and Greenville Dreams.
Our program is operated on a yearly basis beginning in August and ending in July of the following year. Recruitment efforts are focused in the May –July timeframe, but we welcome inquiries throughout the year.
For more information about how to become an AmeriCorps member at United Way of Greenville and United Way of Pickens County, please contact Rebecca Lambert at rlambert@unitedwaygc.org.
The SC Campus Compact Healthy Families program AmeriCorps members mobilize SC communities to adopt active lifestyles and practice healthy nutrition. To do this work, AmeriCorps members partner with a wide range of non-profit organizations to provide their community with obesity prevention, nutrition and wellness education and outreach activities and to build the organization's capacity to offer nutrition and wellness curriculum.
SCCC Healthy Families encourages and supports colleges and university students to enroll as part-time AmeriCorps members who have the opportunity to provide valuable service in their communities, learn leadership skills, gain valuable civic and workforce skills, and upon successful completion of their term of service, earn an education award that is available for defined purposes like repayment of student loans and payment of tuition for further higher education.
A total of 300 hours of service is required to complete the program and receive an Education Award of $1,132. By participating in SCCC Healthy Families program, the member becomes a part of the AmeriCorps National Service network that improves lives and strengthens communities throughout the United States of America.
For more information about how to become an AmeriCorps member with Campus Compact, please contact Kim Keel at keelk@winthrop.edu.
PROJECT HOPE
Project HOPE is based in the United Way of Florence County. The mission of Project HOPE is to improve the quality of the local workforce by providing intensive service, training, and advocacy that will increase employ-ability and self sufficiency.
Project HOPE AmeriCorps Members will tackle the persistent unemployment in Florence County by: a) offering economically-disadvantaged individuals the opportunity to have the AmeriCorps experience and supporting their search for employment; b) providing job skills training and job search and job placement assistance for economically-disadvantaged individuals who are unemployed; c) providing literacy training for unemployed individuals testing Below Basic; d) providing housing repairs and improvements for economically-disadvantaged individuals, especially seniors, veterans and the disabled.
For more information about how to become an AmeriCorps member with Project Hope in Florence, please contact Les Echols at lesechols@bellsouth.net.
PEE DEE COALITION
Ten Corps members are engaged in a collaborative project to reduce victimization from domestic and sexual assault through primary prevention methods and to increase public awareness on the laws and issues surrounding sexual assault victimization through community outreach and advocacy. Members interact with elementary through college age students as well as adults through classroom sessions, public education presentations, hospital accompaniment, on-site services, as well as special campus and community events. As the linkage between adverse childhood experiences and a lifetime of continued victimization or abuse is recognized, members facilitate a better understanding of the importance of both prevention & intervention at the earliest possible level. The service area for this project encompasses the counties of Chesterfield, Marlboro, Dillon, Marion, & Williamsburg.
For more information about how to become an AmeriCorps member at Pee Dee Coaltion, please contact Debi Kellogg at dkellogg@peedeecoaltion.org.
The Foothills AmeriCorps Program serves the most rural, northwestern section of Spartanburg County, which consists of several small, rural communities. The program's 80 AmeriCorps members are all high school seniors who attend Spartanburg County School District One.
The Foothills AmeriCorps Program is designed to meet the needs of our district community by focusing on three very important issues: (1) Tutoring underachieving elementary and middle school students to become academically successful. (2) Planning and implementing disaster preparedness programs and activities, which help expand citizens’ knowledge in emergency preparedness and safety and lead to the strengthening of homeland security in communities. (3) Sponsoring and/or participating in community capacity-building service projects that address unmet human needs throughout the country.
This year, we have eighty seniors from Chapman and Landrum High School who were selected to become members. The selection process is based on application, essay, three teacher recommendations, HSAP scores and a willingness and true desire to help the community they live in. In exchange for their service throughout the year, members receive a monthly stipend and upon completion of at least 300 volunteer hours by June 2012, they will also receive a $1175.00 scholarship to the college or university of their choice in the fall.
For more information about how to become an AmeriCorps member at Spartanburg School District One, please contact Travis Gregg at travis.gregg@spart1.org.
TEACH FOR AMERICA
Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in the effort to expand educational opportunity.
Teach For America’s network in the 2011-12 school year includes 9,300 corps members teaching in 43 regions across the country and nearly 24,000 alumni working in education and many other sectors to create the systemic changes that will help end educational inequity. In South Carolina, corps members currently serve in the Pee Dee region.
For more information, contact the Teach For America – South Carolina Executive Director, Josh Bell, at josh.bell@teachforamerica.org or visit teachforamerica.org to apply to the corps.
For more information about how to become an AmeriCorps member with Teach For America, please contact Miranda Moyer at miranda.moyer@teachforamerica.org.
Want to know how you can put AmeriCorps to work in your community? Contact us today.