Foundation wins Award for 5 CNS- VISTA Positions

WACF awarded five VISTA positions
(from the Daily Mountain Eagle www.mountaineagle.com)
Jennifer Cohron Eagle Reporter Sunday, Jul 05, 2009

Walker County needs you.

The Walker Area Community Foundation was recently awarded five positions through AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America).VISTAs make a commitment to help fight poverty by serving for one year at a nonprofit organization or local government agency.Paul Kennedy, WACF executive director, said the Foundation’s VISTAs will be working with the Health Providers Network, the Heritage Center and the Arts Alliance and Nonprofit Council.VISTAs are not paid employees. “They are under contract to the federal government to alleviate poverty and increase the capacity of organizations operating in rural America,” Kennedy said.VISTAs work no less than 32 hours per week. The Corporation for National Service provides $800 a month as a living allowance for the volunteers. Benefits such as health care and child care are also available.At the end of their service, each VISTA can choose to receive an education award worth $4,725 to pay for college or $1,200 in cash. However, Kennedy said that VISTAs get much more than money.“They get very valuable experience in the non-profit world and the work world. I also think they get an eye-opening experience for what their community is and how it functions,” he said. Kennedy said ideal VISTA candidates have a college degree and are interested in taking a year off before going to graduate school.Mothers who have raised their children and want to reenter the workforce gradually may also find the VISTA program helpful.“Maybe they’re a little hesitant about jumping into a 9 to 5 job. This is a great way to segue back in to the work world. We get the advantage of their maturity and social connections,” Kennedy said.The VISTA program, a vision of President John F. Kennedy, was founded in 1965.In April, President Barack Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which authorized spending $5.7 billion and will increase the size of AmeriCorps from 75,000 positions to 250,000.Paul Kennedy said the national service program is particularly helpful now to non-profit organizations that need more people to fulfill their mission but can’t afford to pay more employees.“This is the best way that the Community Foundation can help develop capacity and sustainability in the organizations that we are trying to support in very lean times,” Kennedy said. Kennedy hopes to recruit locally for the positions, although he can recruit nationally if suitable candidates are not found within Walker County.For more information or to apply for a VISTA position, visit www.americorps.gov/about/programs/vista.asp

"Safe Sitter" Training by Walker Baptist Medical Center

Safe Sitters is a medically accurate instruction series, offered by Walker Baptist Medical Center that teaches boys and girls ages 11 to 15 how to handle emergencies when caring for young children.

Only one class will be offered this summer. The class will be:
Tuesday & Wednesday, June 22nd & 23rd from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day at Farmstead Baptist Church Gym/Activity Center

A class fee of $40.00 covers supplies and manual for the two-day course. Lunch, snacks and drinks will be provided each day.

To register your son, daughter or babysitter, please call 387-4169.
Please leave your name, phone number or email address so registration information can be sent to you.

Art in the Park - Jasper, Alabama, USA - free admission to the first 2,000

A wide variety of Art / Artists will be creating, showing, and selling their art in our park. Admission is free. The public is encouraged to attend. Activities for children and adults. Venue is full access. Valet parking available.

Saturday, June 20, 2009
9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Memorial Park in Jasper, Alabama
For more information, contact:
Beth Sargent (205) 221-1711
bsargent@ARTSofWalkerCounty.org
Walker County Arts Alliance
P.O. Box 1622 • Jasper, AL 35502
SPREAD
THEWORD!

Save $300 and Find New Funding Opportunities with GrantStation

Boost your fundraising efforts with GrantStation! Place your request now and receive a one-year GrantStation membership, which regularly has a $399 admin fee, for only $99, thanks to the generosity of GrantStation.

This very special offer will start May 19 at 8 a.m. Pacific (11 a.m. Eastern) and end on May 20 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific (8 p.m. Eastern).
Please register your organization ahead of time to make sure that you can participate and receive a donation of this great fundraising tool!
For more information regarding administrative fees and product details, please visit TechSoup.
Eligibility details

2009 Guide to Grantmakers on CD

Every non-profit group needs funding. The 2009 Guide to Alabama Grantmakers on CD-ROM is the one-stop resource to help raise those funds. The Guide contains an easy-to-use database of over 1000 grantmakers that fund non-profits in Alabama, searchable by field of interest, type of support, geographic focus, and more. It even contains a separate Grants Database that makes it easy to find foundation, corporate giving programs, or public charities that fund organizations like yours. With this new resource, finding the right information is easier than ever. More detailed information and an order form can be found at the Alabama Giving website at http://www.alabamagiving.org/

United Way of Central Alabama ISO Volunteers for their Walker County "Visiting Allocation Team"

Thank you to those who have logged on to http://www.uwca.org/ and registered to serve as Visiting Allocation Team (VAT) volunteers for our 2009 Allocations Process. To date, we have recruited 125 of the 600 volunteers needed before our August 19th deadline. Please continue to help us reach our recruitment goal by encouraging potential volunteers to visit our website and/or circulating the attached recruitment flyer. We appreciate your help!

Note: If you experience any technical difficulties with the website, please email your issue to vat@uwca.org or simply complete and return the attached form.

Sonya King
Vice President, Agency Impact

United Way of Central Alabama, Inc.
P.O. Box 320189
Birmingham, AL 35232-0189
Phone: 205.458.2063
Fax: 205.458.2013
Website: http://www.uwca.org/

editor's note - This is a great way to learn what the United Way is doing in our community. It is also a good way to refine your own grant writing skills from the "other side of the table". PWK

Call for VISTA (volunteers) in Walker County

Highlights of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act

H.R. 1388, Senate-passed as of 3-26-2009
Reauthorizes and Expands the Mission of the Corporation for National and Community Service, by:
Increasing Opportunities for Americans of All Ages to Serve
Puts young people onto a path of national service by establishing a Summer of Service program to provide $500 education awards for rising 6th-12th graders, a Semester of Service program for high school students to engage in service-learning, and Youth Empowerment Zones for secondary students and out-of-school youth.
Dramatically increases intensive service opportunities by setting AmeriCorps on a path from 75,000 positions annually to 250,000 by 2017, and focusing that service on education, health, clean energy, veterans, economic opportunity and other national priorities. Ties the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award to the maximum Pell Grant level (now $5,350, but set to increase over time).
Improves service options for experienced Americans by expanding age and income eligibility for Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions, authorizing a Silver Scholars program, under which individuals 55 and older who perform 350 hours of service receive a $1,000 education award, and establishing Serve America Fellowships and Encore Fellowships allowing individuals to choose from among registered service sponsors where to perform service. Also permits individuals age 55 and older to transfer their education award to a child or grandchild.
Enables millions of working Americans to serve by establishing a nationwide Call to Service Campaign and a September 11 national day of service, and investing in the nonprofit sector’s capacity to recruit and manage volunteers.
Supporting Innovation and Strengthening the Nonprofit Sector
Creates a Social Innovation Fund to expand proven initiatives and provide seed funding for experimental initiatives, leveraging Federal dollars to identify and grow ideas that are addressing our most intractable community problems.
Establishes a Volunteer Generation Fund to award grants to states and nonprofits to recruit, manage, and support volunteers and strengthen the nation’s volunteer infrastructure.
Authorizes Nonprofit Capacity Building grants to provide organizational development assistance to small and mid-size nonprofit organizations.
Creates a National Service Reserve Corps of former national service participants and veterans who will be trained to deploy, in coordination with FEMA, in the event of disasters.
Strengthening Management, Cost-Effectiveness, and Accountability
Merges funding streams, expands the use of simplified, fixed amount grants, and gives the Corporation flexibility to consolidate application and reporting requirements. Increases support for State Commissions on national and community service. Bolsters the capacity and duties of the Corporation’s Board of Directors.
Ensures that programs receiving assistance under national service laws are continuously evaluated for effectiveness in achieving performance and cost goals.
Introduces responsible and balanced competition to the RSVP program.
Authorizes a Civic Health Assessment comprised of indicators relating to volunteering, voting, charitable giving, and interest in public service in order to evaluate and compare the civic health of communities.
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