After School and Summer Meals Associate (VISTA)
START/END DATE: 8/31/2020 - 8/30/2021
United Way of King County is a local leader in developing and funding innovative anti-poverty programs to help people in need and solve our community’s toughest challenges. United Way engages people, volunteers, and resources in building a community where people have homes, students graduate and families are financially stable.
Note on COVID-19: Please note that United Way of King County has moved to remote operations and will reopen pending public health guidance. As such, be prepared to partake remotely in interviews, training, and other service responsibilities should we move forward with your candidacy. If technology presents a barrier to applying, interviewing, or accepting the position, please reach out to unitedwayamericorps@uwkc.org for accommodations.
Should we move forward with your candidacy, members will start their AmeriCorps service primarily working remotely. Per United Way and public health guidance, all AmeriCorps members must be able to transition from working remotely to commuting to their site daily at any time during their service year.
Prior to United Way’s reopening, this position may require occasional in-person service. United Way is following all guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and the Washington State Department of Health regarding social distancing and safety measures. We are eager to support you in having a safe and impactful service term.
Program Overview
Everyone deserves consistent access to healthy and culturally appropriate food. But, since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, local leaders estimate that hunger in our community has tripled. Low-income families and families of color have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, and are experiencing hunger at unprecedented rates. United Way of King County’s Fuel Your Future program connects families with critical food resources – including school meals, food banks, and public benefits programs like SNAP and WIC – with a particular focus on low-income communities of color.
As a VISTA with the Fuel Your Future team, you will help ensure that low-income children have access to nutritious food in the places where they live, learn, and play. You will support United Way’s work to increase the accessibility of afterschool and summer meals programs – which provide meals to kids when school isn’t in session. You will build overall program capacity by leveraging volunteers, collaborating with community partners to open new meals sites, and supporting outreach efforts to families.
Member Roles and Responsibilities
- Coordinate with community partners to increase access to summer meals and afterschool meals programs, with a particular focus on supporting communities of color impacted by COVID-19
- Become a technical expert on federal child nutrition programs, and provide technical assistance to community partners
- Develop and coordinate a county-wide outreach strategy to increase community awareness of summer and afterschool meals programs and increase participation at sites
- Create outreach materials for families and ensure materials are translated into appropriate languages
- Support the collection and management of confidential client information collected at meals sites, and analyze date for trends and resource gaps
- Recruit and coordinate occasional volunteer groups to support food access work at summer meals and afterschool meals sites
Eligibility
- Be at least 18 years old upon entering VISTA training. There is no upper age limit.
- Be U.S. citizens or have permanent resident status. F-1 visas are not sufficient.
- Not be listed in the National Sex Offender Registry database as having been convicted of sex-related crimes.
- Be willing to submit fingerprints for a criminal history background check. AmeriCorps assesses criminal history on a case-by-case basis when determining applicant eligibility.
- Be in a position to offer full-time service for one year without regard to regular working hours.
- Have a high school diploma/equivalent or be working toward completing one during the service year.
- Understand that VISTAs serve on a full-time basis from August 31, 2020, to August 30, 2021. Therefore, VISTAs cannot enroll in school except in limited circumstances or be subjects of legal proceedings (civil or criminal) that may consume time needed for VISTA assignments. VISTA service cannot be used to satisfy service requirements of parole or probation. VISTAs may have additional employment outside of AmeriCorps but this employment should not interfere with the VISTA project.
Desired Qualifications
- Experience and passion for working with youth and families, particularly youth from low-income communities
- Experience working with diverse populations and an ability to apply a racial equity lens towards anti-hunger work
- Ability to build and sustain relationships with community partners
- Strong organizational skills, and the ability to collect, manage, and analyze confidential client information
- Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Outlook, and Excel. Experience working with data in Excel is a plus, but not required.
- High level of comfort creating materials that will be read by a wide audience, and the ability write professional and polished copy for newsletters, emails, and flyers
- Second language skill (especially Spanish, Somali, Amharic, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Russian, or Ukrainian) is highly desirable so that we can offer services to families in their preferred or native languages.
We believe that the communities we serve must be centered in the work we do. Therefore people of color and people with experience accessing food resources are highly encouraged to apply.
This position primarily involves working from a computer, but may occasionally involve service in outdoor weather conditions, and may involve standing, walking, or moving around a service location for up to two hours at a time. The person in this position will frequently communicate with families, community partners, and other AmeriCorps members about federal nutrition programs, and must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations.
Compensation and Benefits
- Monthly Stipend: $1850.24 (pretax) per month
- $6,195 Education Award or $1,800 cash stipend upon successful completion of service.
- (By law, only VISTA members who are either: US citizens, US nationals, or lawful permanent resident aliens (sometimes referred to as “lawful permanent residents”) are eligible to receive an education award. Persons legally residing in a state, but who are not US citizens, US nationals, or lawful permanent residents, are only eligible to receive an end-of-service stipend.)
- Loan deferment and payment of interest accrued during service year on qualified student loans (loans must be federally-backed; personal/private loans not eligible)
- Health benefits that meet the minimum standards of ACA compliance
- Unlimited ORCA (bus) Pass
- Childcare assistance – please let us know if you are interested in this benefits so that we can provide additional information
- 10 days sick leave, 10 days personal leave, 9 federal holidays
- Enrollment in an assistance program with 24-hour access to phone counseling
- Non-competitive eligibility for federal jobs for up to one year after completing service
- Professional work experience
- In-service training, skill-building and professional development
- Family leave – please let us know if you anticipate needing extended time off for family/maternity leave so that we can provide additional information
To Apply: Create an application on My AmeriCorps Portal or click here: https://my.americorps.gov/mp/listing/viewListing.do?fromSearch=true&id=92335