April 1, 2018
Program Development & Training Officer
Major projects completed –
Review of Volunteer Generation Fund applications and selection of applicants for funding. Despite delays getting final approval from the Department of Purchases, contracting is moving forward with 5 of the 7 applicants. Although the Commission had the resources to fund the amounts requested by all applicants, two applicantions were considered significantly deficient and so were not approved for funding.
AmeriCorps Member Conference was held March 28th at Thomas College in Waterville. 103 AmeriCorps members and 17 program staff members attended. Current members presented 14 workshops and Alums presented 4. Initial feedback has been positive. Session specific feedback is being aggregated. Oakhurst Dairy continued to sponsor the conference, as they did last year, but at a lower contribution level. Members on the planning committee were able to also secure a variety of donations to support members.
Service Enterprise: Completed final training sessions with Portland area Service Enterprise cohort. Final session included explaining the timeline for individualized coaching with the involved sites [Southern Maine Agency on Aging, Girl Scouts of Maine and Maine Audubon] leading to certification
AmeriCorps Rural: Provided final outreach to organizations likely to have interest in the Rural Initiative, focusing on organizations in the rim counties and emphasizing the goals of the program. Contacted more than 50 organizations with direct outreach and provided varying levels of individualized follow-up to 11. Hosted one of the series of 5 webinar sessions related to the program and made 4 site visits to applicants to provide direct assistance with program modeling.
Issues to be aware of –
Delays in VGF sub awards may impact total number of volunteers organizations are able to recruit and report within initial grant year. Programs will have six months before end of year performance measurement is due.
There are a number of significant trainings that the Training officer is directly involved in the coming months; MEMA’s annual Preparedness Conference in April as presenter of 2 workshops; Regional National Service Conference in May as planner, presenter and host; as well as anticipated sessions in the upcoming Energize Maine conference.
Major focus of effort in the new month –
April and May will be largely taken up with:
- new VGF contracting and new grantee training for VGF awardee
- extensive support for the EMDC Northern Maine AmeriCorps program which was delayed due to state funding challenges
- training for new AmeriCorps staff due to turnover and re-training of recently hired staff on noted compliance items
- Planning for Regional conference and development of new session plans for MEMA and Energize Maine
- Initial work with new contractor supporting the Mott Afterschool Network initiative to develop fundable National Service Models in the after-school arena.
Other activity –
Ongoing participation on conference planning team for National Service Regional Conference, scheduled for early June.
Regular AmeriCorps Technical Assistance to existing grantees via email, teleconference & face to face.
Staff support for E & E task Force
Procurement system management and entry of financial documents in state purchasing system.