Team UP AmeriCorps is getting ready for its second-year cohort serving Southwest Colorado, and is recruiting team members to serve over a dozen organizations and schools.
This year, 15 positions are open in Team UP AmeriCorps, which focuses on improving outcomes in education, economic opportunities and healthy futures. Al Huckins, director of the program and an AmeriCorps alum herself, said the program allows people to serve the local community meaningfully.
“It was really the AmeriCorps position that I did that taught me that I could have value in this community, and there was a place for me,” Huckins said.
Team UP AmeriCorps operates under the nonprofit United Way of Southwest Colorado, which serves Montezuma, Dolores, La Plata, Archuleta and San Juan counties. This is the second year of operation for Team UP AmeriCorps, and its leaders are looking to expand the program from nine members to 15.
The positions will serve with 13 local nonprofit organizations and schools in Southwest Colorado. Team UP members all serve in different roles, which is a bit different than other AmeriCorps program models.
“We really thought that it fit our rural area to have different positions,” Huckins said. The new cohort will begin work in September 2020.
With the coronavirus pandemic’s arrival, AmeriCorps members were able to adapt in order to community needs — which was especially helpful because many of the member sites (like schools) shut down.
“The whole goal is community service, and AmeriCorps saw this community was struggling in an entirely new way,” Huckins said. Locally, that meant some members went to serve at the Sharehouse or adjusted their workstyle to go virtual.
AmeriCorps also seeks contact tracers for the summer.
The nonprofits and schools served include: San Juan Board of Cooperative Education Services, Montelores Early Childhood Council, Pagosa Peak Open School, Battlerock Charter School, Children’s Kiva Montessori School, Piñon Project Resource Center, Boys & Girls Club of La Plata County, Housing Solutions for the Southwest, Four Corners Child Advocacy Center, Reaching Our Community & Kid, STUDents tackling UNhealthy Decisions, Dove’s Nest Childcare Center and the Good Samaritan Center Food Pantry.
Most of the positions are for a one-year term, and can be viewed online. AmeriCorps members receive a monthly living allowance, full-time insurance, child care assistance, mileage reimbursement, professional development opportunities, and an education award upon service completion.
Anyone from 18 to 99 can apply by emailing a resume and cover letter to Huckins at alh@unitedway-swco.org.
ealvero@the-journal.com