Do you want to be a paid volunteer that works flexible hours from home, serves the community you live in, flexes and hones your skills, learns and networks with our partners, and becomes a part of statewide effort to knock WV off the worst health lists?
Then serving with Try This WV is for you!
"I'm fortunate enough to be in a position where the living stipend supports my lifestyle while I invest much more of my time in both my and community’s well-being. No one loses in this scenario. This position gives many times back what you put into it!"
Cassie Wiley, AmeriCorps serving Southern WV, Try This WV
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“My time as an AmeriCorps member has been absolutely incredible. I have made invaluable connections and partnerships with people and organizations both directly in my community, and in the broader region."
Share our info with your partners to help us with our search!
Not interested yourself, but know a good candidate? Please download our recruitment flyer and our one-pager about Try This and share it with your partners. We are searching for 3 AmeriCorps who live in each of the following Regions:
Mid-Ohio Valley
Calhoun
Jackson
Pleasants
Ritchie
Roane
Tyler
Wirt
Wood
Northern Panhandle
Brooke
Hancock
Ohio
Marshall
Wetzel
Southern WV
Cabell
Logan
McDowell
Mason
Mingo
Wayne
Wyoming
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Incentives:
(NEW!) Tuition Award: Serve 1 year in WV and receive 1 year of tuition of a public college or university!
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Lving Allowance: Full-time AmeriCorps receive $776.33 twice monthly as a living stipend for service. AmeriCorps can also help you sign up for benefits you might qualify for, such as insurance.
Education Award: After successfully completing your AmeriCorps term of service and enrolling in the National Service Trust, you are eligible to receive the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award of $6,895. You can use the award to repay qualified student loans and to pay current educational expenses at eligible institutions of higher education and training programs. In certain circumstances, it can even be gifted to immediate family members. Click here to learn more about the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award and how it can benefit you.
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Work Remotely: Try This operates statewide, and we want candidates to serve the community they already live in. You can work flexible hours from home, or request that Try This find you space at a local partner organization in your county to serve from.
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Design Your Schedule: Not only can you set flexible hours that work for you, but you can also fill the majority of your time chasing opportunities and connections that interest you. Make collaborative projects happen, attend meetings that get you excited, and travel around - or stay online - as much as you prefer. An ideal candidate will be self-motivated and be able to accomplish tasks for the team independently while also having the desire to inspire change and develop creative partnerships that help Try This and your Region grow your local healthy-community network.
Service Description:
Service Term: AmeriCorps will be expected to attend AmeriCorps training with High Rocks on September 19th-20th and training with Try This would begin September 18th. The service year will end on August 31st, 2024. Try This AmeriCorps must earn 1,700 hours before that date to qualify for the education stipend and tuition incentive.
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Support Try This: You’ll help West Virginians get physically active, eat healthy food, and live healthier lives in your own community. You’ll be connecting people so they can collaborate on projects, trade ideas, and inspire each other, with the goal of knocking West Virginia off the worst health lists. It’s up to us!
Be a Minigrant Helper: You’ll support local minigrant projects in your Region, making sure they have at least one contact per month and have a chance to visit (or connect virtually) to see their work in action. Check out our list of current projects to see what projects are active near you!
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Become a Community Organizer: Learn the skills you need - and flex the ones you have - to become a true community organizer. From 1-on-1 conversations, connecting different individuals and organizations, recruiting new folks to the movement, encouraging aspiring leaders, managing projects and volunteers, and creating your own schedule for how you want to make a difference, you'll leave Try This with everything you need to be a changemaker at the grassroots level.
Get networked locally: In the age of COVID, this looks different, but Zoom has been instrumental in helping us connect, learn, and share. You’ll meet with minigrant teams, local organizations, and bring new people you meet into the Try This network. And depending on your comfort level and COVID rates, you'll have the chance travel around your Region to meet folks in person and see Try This and our partners in action.
Help organize Try This Regional Gatherings in your Region: With the help of the rest of the Try This team, you will do much of the organizing work to bring dozens of folks together - virtually until safe - to get folks talking across county lines, sharing inspiring stories, and brainstorming new projects right in your Region.
Recruit healthy-community projects and leaders: You’ll help potential project groups learn how they can apply for a Try This minigrant project and encourage new leaders to put together a great application.
Media: Help keep our social media - particularly Facebook and Instagram - updated with awesome things and opportunities happening in your Region, contribute to our Quarterly Newsletter, keep our website accurate, and find new opportunities for us to get the word out on Try This opportunities.
Logistics: Try This will help you learn how to keep track of data and people and stay on top of tasks. We have helpful digital programs, training opportunities, and systems in place that will help you develop organization skills. Try This utilizes Google - like Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Docs/Sheets/etc. - and communicate through Slack to ensure all information is accessible in real time across our team.
Training: The Try This team wants you to leave your year of service with real skills that you can use to make a difference. The staff will help you learn about non-profits and how they work, grants and how to write them, and more. Try This will also help you learn about subjects that interest you, such as social media and advertising, website development, photography, communication skills, fundraising, healthy living, or anything else that might support our work.
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Interested? Fill out our interest form or email us at trythiswv@gmail.com
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For more information on the AmeriCorps program visit americorps.gov/serve
