Serve with Belleville AmeriCorps

An ideal candidate …

• Enjoys working with kids
• Has experience working with kids
• Has a passion for service
• Has experience serving
• Demonstrates effective organizational/communication skills
• Is open, flexible, proactive and can set goals
• Has strong letters of recommendation
• Does not have to be a college student
• Must be at least 17 years of age
• Cannot be a SWIC employee or current student worker

Minimum Qualifications and Eligibility

To become a member, you must:

1. Be a citizen of the United States, a U. S. national or a legal permanent resident of the United States.
2. Be at least 17 years of age as of the first day of service.
3. Have a high school diploma or GED. Some college preferred.
4. Pass a comprehensive background screening to include:
   • A search of the National Sex Offender Public Registry
   • A Department of Children and Family Services check of the Child Abuse and Neglect tracking system
   • An FBI fingerprint check
   • Criminal history checks in state of residence and state where service site is located
5. Failure to pass any of the above background checks is grounds for termination for cause. Decisions on acceptable hits will be made by the partnering organization.
6. Applicants for Education Award Only positions must qualify for Federal Work Study.
7. Applicants with previous volunteer experience and/or experience working with children are preferred.
8. Applicants must be open to new and challenging experiences.
9. Qualified individuals with disabilities and those from diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. Belleville AmeriCorps provides reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals and conducts all activities in fully accessible settings.

Member Assignments and Activities

Currently, Belleville AmeriCorps places members in the following positions:

• Tutors—elementary and junior high school students
• Volunteer Coordinators—neighborhood/school partnerships
• Summer Camp Counselors—elementary and junior high school

Currently, Belleville AmeriCorps supplements member hours with community service projects in our region by partnering with the City of Belleville and other area not for profits.

Multi-Subject Tutor (Belleville School Districts 118 and 175)

Tutors provide academic assistance to pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students working with small groups of students or with one student at time.

Service Responsibilities and Requirements:

• Work with assigned teacher(s) to develop a schedule focused on the needs of each identified student, taking into account activities such as art, music, and P.E. If possible, this schedule should be maintained throughout the year.
• Tutor a minimum of 35 assigned students as part of the tutoring and Response to Intervention (RtI) program addressing academic challenges and monitoring progress; members will also tutor various students in the classroom or in smaller groups to fill in their schedule.
• Work with teachers in order to tutor in a manner consistent with classroom teaching.
• Communicate with teachers to report progress or challenges and garner resources.
• Develop structured games or activities to engage students. Activities should then be implemented when the student does not have an academic assignment.
• Work with your assigned teacher(s) to plan and implement B.L.A.S.T. reading sessions as required.
• When not engaged in a tutoring session, assist with school assignments, tutoring and before and after school activities.
• Assist teachers with classroom work during periods of time when students cannot be dismissed from class for individual tutoring (i.e. testing periods).
• Maintain records of students tutored and duration. Those records will then be turned in to the AmeriCorps office at the end of each month.

Volunteer Coordinator (Franklin Neighborhood, Harmony Neighborhood)

Positions supporting the neighborhood organizations will recruit community residents to support a host of activities including after school programs, tutoring and community events. This is a capacity-building position.

Service Responsibilities and Requirements:

• Become familiar with school based activities, students, families and community based resources. Attend board meetings for neighborhood associations.
• Attend various school functions and community events to recruit volunteers.
• Recruit, interview and select parents and community residents to serve as volunteers.
• Organize and conduct training programs for volunteers.
• Schedule volunteers for tutoring during the school day and after school.
• Provide overall support to volunteers.
• Develop recognition programs for volunteers.
• Assist with coordination of other school based volunteers and activities.
• Provide consistent communication to site coordinators and AmeriCorps staff regarding volunteer activities. Maintain records of volunteers recruited, demographics and number of hours each volunteer serves. Those records will then be turned in to the AmeriCorps office at the end of each month.
• Attend monthly volunteer coordinator meetings.

Summer Camp Counselors (Franklin Neighborhood Community Association, Harmony Neighborhood Community Association, and District 118)

• Be a role model and leader for elementary school-aged children.
• Assist camp director and counselors in the daily set up, service and clean-up of lunch and afternoon snacks to campers; set up and clean-up of camp activities; and upkeep of camp facilities.
• Tutor campers before camp in an identified subject area such as elementary math, reading, spelling or language skills.
• Organize recreational and enrichment activities in partnership with the camp director and fellow counselors.
• Manage camper behavior and enforce camp rules as required.
• Supervise children on field trips.
• Have the physical ability to endure activities occurring outdoors during summer months.

Service Project Requirements

Due to the Belleville AmeriCorps commitment to our partners and our commitment to service in our community:

• Members are expected to participate in community projects in addition to their primary service placements and regularly assigned duties.
• Certain projects will be considered mandatory, and members are expected to achieve the required quarterly number of projects.
• Members are encouraged to bring their own ideas for service projects to the AmeriCorps program director for discussion and approval. The director must approve member-initiated service projects before members participate in that service project to receive credit.
• Members are required to attend various training sessions and to complete service projects throughout their term of service.

Member Benefits

Living Allowance

The living allowance is the taxable income of the member. It is divided into equal installments over the length of your contract. Members will be paid twice per month. Disbursements will be handled by the Southwestern Illinois College Payroll Office. The living allowance is not an hourly wage or a salary and will only be paid in months of service. The member is not an employee of the program. The member must satisfactorily complete the hours as documented on time sheets and activity reports. The member will receive the same prorated amount of living allowance for each period, regardless of the number of hours served during that period, unless on suspension. Members are strongly encouraged to have living allowance payments deposited directly into his or her checking or savings account. If automatic payroll deposit is not elected, payments will be sent to the address on file. Questions regarding checks, W-4 or W-2 forms should be directed to the AmeriCorps Office. If necessary, the AmeriCorps staff will contact the SWIC Payroll Office directly.

Free MetroLink and MetroBus Pass

All Belleville AmeriCorps members are eligible for a MetroLink and MetroBus pass. Passes may be picked up at the Public Safety office at the SWIC Belleville Campus. Passes are only valid with a current SWIC employee identification card which can also be obtained from Public Safety.

Loan Postponement/Forbearance

AmeriCorps members who are earning a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award are uniquely eligible for one type of postponement of the repayment of their qualified student loan called forbearance. During this forbearance based on national service, interest continues to accrue. If you successfully complete your term of service and earn an education award, the National Service Trust will pay all or a portion of the interest that has accrued on your qualified student loans during this period. This accrued interest paid by the trust, like the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award itself, is subject to income taxes. However, if the member leaves for non-compelling reasons, even if the loan was in forbearance, the trust will not pay any portion of the interest accrued. Members must request forbearance from their loan holders with the National Service Trust through the online portal, My AmeriCorps. The National Service Trust does not grant forbearances; loan holders do. Therefore, members must also contact loan holders to apply for forbearance as well. Members whose loans are in current default status are not eligible for this benefit.

Eligibility for Loan Postponement/Forbearance

AmeriCorps members enrolled in an AmeriCorps program are eligible for forbearance for most federally-backed student loans. For other types of student loans, ask your loan holder if your AmeriCorps service qualifies you for a deferment or forbearance.

Health Insurance

Full-time AmeriCorps members are eligible for health insurance. Eligibility is dependent upon whether or not a member has health care coverage at the time of enrollment, or if enrollment in the program will cause the member to lose their current coverage. Coverage is also provided if a full-time member loses coverage during the term of service through no deliberate act of his or her own. Full-time members covered by Medicaid may not waive coverage of the AmeriCorps plan. A member is not eligible if they are covered on someone else’s policy. Please see the program director for more information.

Child Care Assistance

To qualify, the following criteria must be met:

• Member must be a full-time AmeriCorps member,
• Reside with and be a parent or guardian of a child under the age of 13,
• Need child care in order to participate, and
• Have a total family income that is less than 75 percent of the state median income (as defined by Illinois state poverty guidelines).

Unemployment Benefits

Members do not qualify to receive unemployment benefits after the completion of their term of service or their release from the program. By signing the member agreement, members agree not to apply for unemployment benefits from the program following their term of service.