Georgia
Commission for Service and Volunteerism
2011-2012
AmeriCorps*State
Grant
Competition
The
Georgia Commission for Service and Volunteerism will be conducting
a round of public meetings across the state to present information
about the AmeriCorps*State grants, other national service funding
opportunities, and the grant application process for new 2011
awards. These NOFO meetings will take place the weeks of September
8 -13 in Atlanta , Dublin , Griffin , and Gainesville . Please
find the list of dates, times and locations for the NOFO meetings
below.
Griffin
Date:
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Time:
9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Place:
Griffin – Spalding County Health Department
1007
Memorial Drive
Griffin
, Georgia 30223
EP
Training Room, 2 nd Floor
Atlanta
Date:
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Time:
10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Place:
Peachtree Summit Federal Building ,
401 West Peachtree Street, N.W.
Atlanta
, Georgia 30308
Conference
Room 18A (Note: Due to limited space, persons planning
to attend must RSVP to
roharra@cns.gov
or call Robert O’Harra at 404-331-4649 to register on or before
Friday, September
3rd. To be admitted into the Peachtree Summit Federal Building
you MUST have a
picture ID.)
Dublin
Date:
Friday, September 10, 2010
Time:
10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.Place:
Laurens County Library
801
Bellevue Avenue
Dublin , Georgia 31021Meeting Room
Gainesville
Date:
Monday, September 13, 2010
Time:
10:00 a.m. -11:30 a.m.
Place:
Georgia Mountain YMCA
2455
Howard Road ,
Gainesville
, GA 30501
Multi-Purpose
Room
GCSV
will host two conference calls on September 22, 2010, to discuss
the application process in greater detail:
- 10:00
a.m. for current 2010 GCSV AmeriCorps programs - ONLY
-
Toll free Dial-In Number (US & Canada ): 1-866-754-5292
- Conference
code: 4046791597
- 1:00
p.m. for all remaining organizations
- Toll
free Dial-In Number (US & Canada ): 1-866-754-5292
- Conference
code: 4046791597
Questions?
Please contact Kiana Sullivan at kiana.sullivan@dca.ga.gov
or 404-679-1738, and John Turner at john.turner@dca.ga.gov
or 404-327-6846.
For
more information on the 2011-2012 NOFO, CLICK
HERE.
Does
AmeriCorps fit my organization? Click
here!
FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS
Interested in AmeriCorps?
Here’s a great place to start learning: Georgia’s AmeriCorps programs
create partnerships and opportunities to participate in national
service programs in education, the environment, public safety,
human needs, and homeland security.
What
is AmeriCorps?
What
do AmeriCorps members do?
Who
can join AmeriCorps?
Can
AmeriCorps be a career, like the military?
How
do I find an AmeriCorps program?
What’s
the best way and best time to contact an AmeriCorps program about
applying?
Is
your organization interested in sponsoring an AmeriCorps program?
What
sort of organizations can sponsor an AmeriCorps program?
What,
exactly, is an AmeriCorps a grant? What do sponsors get?
Who
decides how much money the grant is for, how many AmeriCorps members
are supported
and
what the members will do for the
sponsoring organization?
How
does that partnership work?
What
kind of competition is conducted by the Georgia Commission?
How
long does the application process take?
Do
applicants have to commit any of their own resources? Cash?
How
long do the grants run?
Is
there a minimum grant size?
What
is AmeriCorps?
Americans of all ages
are looking for ways to give back to their communities, to roll
up their sleeves and get busy making a positive difference in
the lives of people. If you are looking for an opportunity to
serve your nation and to gain some unique experience helping others
here in Georgia, enrolling in an AmeriCorps program might be the
answer.
AmeriCorps members
make a commitment to serve in a local program from minimums of
between 300 to 1,700 hours during a one-year term. Full time members
receive a stipend (a living allowance), health and other benefits.
Every AmeriCorps member who successfully completes a term of service
receives an Eli Segal Education Award. For full time AmeriCorps
members starting in the 2010 program year, the amount of this
college scholarship is $5,350.
What
do AmeriCorps members do?
Most AmeriCorps service
is concentrated around one of several focus areas such as: Education,
Public Safety, Environment, Homeland Security, and Health.
Education
- The most common focus area. Many AmeriCorps members serve with
school-age children as tutors or mentors, either in school settings
or in after school programs (which is a great way to get some
experience in that field and decide if a career as a teacher is
right for you).
Public Safety
– AmeriCorps members serve on neighborhood watch bicycle patrols
and work with police departments on community improvement projects.
Environment
- This is a category called unmet human needs, which can cover
work with the homeless, helping people with disabilities or service
in health-related issues.
Homeland Security
- AmeriCorps members engage citizens and communities in preparedness
and response to acts of terrorism and other disaster, support
police departments, organize neighborhood watch groups and communities
to identify and respond to crime and disorder problems.
Health - This
category expands across many different health-focused services
such as: providing healthy resources and education on healty living,
assisting with enrollment into healthcare plans, transportation
assistance, reinforcement of treatment plans and preventive plans,
All AmeriCorps programs
offer training for members to prepare them for their service and
to develop the sense of teamwork, civic responsibility and esprit
de corps that is essential to carry out their mission. Training
will vary depending on the type of program. But the common purpose
of improving communities and helping people means that AmeriCorps
members often find themselves shoulder to shoulder with volunteers
on the front lines of some of America’s most difficult problems
– headline-making issues like hunger, homelessness, environmental
degradation, neighborhoods in crisis, children struggling in school
and families in need after disasters have struck.
Many AmeriCorps members
reflect back on their national service and say it was one of the
most challenging and rewarding periods of their lives. Why? Partly
because they were involved in something bigger than themselves
– something that pushed them to work as part of a diverse team
to help solve tough problems. And partly because of their own
personal growth through the training and the knowledge that they
lived up to a big commitment.
Service in an AmeriCorps
program is a great way to challenge yourself, to gain some valuable
experience, make important contacts and test the waters of a career
field before you plunge in. The bonus? You earn some money for
college while you’re doing it!
Who
can join AmeriCorps?
You must be a United
States citizen, national. or legal permanent resident alien of
the U.S. You must be at least 17 years or older, and you must
either have a high school diploma or agree to earn one while you
serve in an AmeriCorps program. A criminal background check is
required if the program you are applying to serves vulnerable
populations like children or the elderly (most do). And individual
AmeriCorps programs may have other eligibility requirements –
check with the program to find out. But you’ll also find that
AmeriCorps programs are inclusive and committed to Dr. Martin
Luther King’s reminder to us that everyone can serve.
Can
AmeriCorps be a career, like the military?
No, even though AmeriCorps
is a form of national service, it is not meant to be a job or
profession. You can only serve two terms in AmeriCorps programs
and earn no more than two education awards. Enrollment into an
AmeriCorps program that is less than full time still counts as
a full term of service.
How
do I find an AmeriCorps program?
Check out the list
of AmeriCorps programs currently funded by the Georgia Commission
for Service and Volunteerism: CLICK
HERE Also, contact the Corporation for National and Community
Service State Office in Atlanta at 404-331-4646 to learn about
other AmeriCorps opportunities in Georgia as well as VISTA, Senior
Corps and other forms of national service.
What’s
the best way and best time to contact an AmeriCorps program about
applying?
Contact the program
directly to apply because individual programs make member selection
decisions based on their own requirements. Most Georgia AmeriCorps
programs begin recruitment in the spring or early summer and make
their selections for enrollment mid summer through early fall.
Positions are limited and fill rapidly, so it doesn’t hurt to
contact programs early.
Is
your organization interested in sponsoring an AmeriCorps program?
Here’s our mission
– can a national service program fit yours?
The
mission of the Georgia Commission for Service and Volunteerism
is to support and facilitate community developed service and volunteer
activities through AmeriCorps programs to improve the quality
of life for Georgians.
What
sort of organizations can sponsor an AmeriCorps program?
State and local governments,
school systems, non-profit organizations and faith-based groups
are all eligible to receive grant funding for AmeriCorps programming.
What,
exactly, is an AmeriCorps a grant? What do sponsors get?
An AmeriCorps grant
is a specific amount of federal money awarded to an individual
organization to support a corps of members to do specific pre-approved
tasks for a designated period of time.
Who
decides how much money the grant is for, how many AmeriCorps members
are supported and what the members will do for the sponsoring
organization?
This is the brilliant
aspect of AmeriCorps grants – the sponsoring organization decides
the size of their grant request, the number and type (full time
or part time) of AmeriCorps members to be enrolled, and what the
members will do, all based upon the needs the sponsor has identified,
the capacity of their organization and the level of commitment
they are willing to make.
In other words, AmeriCorps
programs are conceived and developed at the grass roots level
to tackle problems or fill needs that local organizations have
identified. But the actual AmeriCorps program then becomes a working
partnership between the local organization, the state and the
federal government under the AmeriCorps logo – custom-designed
national service delivered to individual communities to meet localized,
selected needs.
How
does that partnership work?
The federal agency
that funds AmeriCorps is the Corporation for National and Community
Service (CNCS). Each year CNCS apportions federal funds to state
government agencies like the Georgia Commission for Service and
Volunteerism for AmeriCorps programming. And each year the Georgia
Commission conducts a competition for those funds by screening
and scoring the applications, selecting applicants for funding
and awarding the AmeriCorps grants. In other words, CNCS supplies
the money (and the rules), local organizations apply, and the
Georgia Commission then awards the grants and makes sure the rules
are followed.
What
kind of competition is conducted by the Georgia Commission?
The Georgia Commission
is committed to conducting a fair and open process whereby high
quality AmeriCorps applications are chosen and then awarded grants.
The commission holds public meetings to announce the grants and
explain the application and selection procedure. Panels of peer
reviewers read AmeriCorps applications and score them based upon
well-defined CNCS criteria. The Georgia Commission then applies
state criteria such as geographic and focus area diversity, past
performance and the amount of available funds to arrive at recommendations
that are ratified by the commission board, CNCS and the commissioner
of the Department of Community Affairs.
How
long does the application process take?
The process begins
with public meetings held in the fall. Applications are submitted
and reviewed in the winter and recommendations are ratified in
the late spring or early summer. Grants are then awarded in early
August.
Do
applicants have to commit any of their own resources? Cash?
Yes. The local or applicant
commitment is in two forms – a mix of cash and in-kind to match
the federal dollars of the grant at a minimum level (24% for the
first three years, rising to 50% by the 10th year), and sufficient
organizational capacity to operate a successful AmeriCorps program
(staff dedicated to the program, facilities, organizational structure,
etc.).
How
long do the grants run?
AmeriCorps programs
are funded on a three year cycle, but renewal or continuation
applications are required for years two and three.
Is
there a minimum grant size?
As a practical matter,
AmeriCorps programs need a minimum of between eight and ten members
to achieve both the necessary impact on a targeted community need
and the desired corps experience for the members. A corps size
between 15 and 30 members is the preferred range, although larger
organizations with sufficient capacity can and do sponsor AmeriCorps
programs of more than 100 members. What is the pay off?
An AmeriCorps grant
is a lot of hard work. Not only is the application lengthy and
complex, with an uncertain prospect for success, but the grant
itself involves a significant investment of administrative time
and resources. The pay off for a sponsoring organization is summed
up in the AmeriCorps Pledge that members take when they begin
their service – “I will get things done for America…”
AmeriCorps members do
exactly that – they tutor children, mentor juveniles, take care
of the elderly, assist the homeless, respond to disasters, recruit
and organize volunteers, patrol neighborhoods, prepare food boxes
and hundreds of other desperately needed tasks. Because each program
is specifically designed to meet a unique set of localized needs,
each one is a little different and the burden of achieving excellence
falls to each newly recruited corps of AmeriCorps members and
their leaders. So success rates vary.
But across Georgia and
across the nation AmeriCorps programs have proven themselves to
be highly effective in meeting carefully targeted community needs.
And, because these programs invest in people, there is a quiet,
largely unnoticed but precious dividend from every successful
AmeriCorps program that has been around for a while – they grow
a new generation of committed, civic-minded leaders for America.
Ready for the details?
CLICK HERE!
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