Join Our VISTA Team!

Think you missed your chance to become a VISTA at GHCC this August? Maybe not quite. We’re looking for just one more AmeriCorps VISTA member to serve with us in a newly reopened position between August 24, 2009 and August 23, 2010. The only catch? We need you by Friday, July 10. Read over the job description below and contact Jaclyn Paul, VISTA Team Leader, at 410-261-3618 or jpaul@strongcitybaltimore.org for more information on how to apply.

Community Connections Coordinator

The Waverly Community Connections Coordinator will mobilize residents and advocate for stronger schools in the following Baltimore City neighborhoods and public schools: Waverly Elementary/Middle School, Abbottston Elementary School, Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School, Waverly, Better Waverly, Oakenshawe, Ednor Gardens. This VISTA member responds dynamically to community needs, creating capacity and connecting communities to neighborhood revitalization resources. Core responsibilities include:

• Become familiar with Waverly, Better Waverly, Ednor Gardens, and Oakenshawe neighborhoods and neighborhood leaders and actively seek ways to connect neighborhoods with resources for leadership development and capacity building.
• Build collaborations between neighborhood residents and associations; public schools; businesses; and local educational, faith, and health institutions.
• Enhance parent and community involvement in schools, mobilizing parents in support of their children’s education.
• Alongside school stakeholders, identify specific needs within the school and build capacity to address them.
• Empower families and other residents to get more involved in their neighborhoods.
• Serve as a link between the school and the surrounding community to address specific needs and issues of common concern.

AmeriCorps VISTA provides an unparalleled opportunity to make a tangible difference in people’s lives. VISTA, or Volunteers in Service to America, is a national service program often referred to as a “domestic Peace Corps.” VISTA members commit to one year of full-time service and receive a modest living allowance plus education benefits, health care, child care assistance, reimbursement for relocation, and post-service federal employment incentives/opportunities.