Grinnell AmeriCorps Partnership Information Session

An information session about the Grinnell AmeriCorps Partnership will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, July 20, at the Iowa Transportation Museum, 829 Spring St., Grinnell.

The session will provide an opportunity for representatives of interested community organizations to learn more about the recently awarded AmeriCorps Grant, including what the grant funding will cover and how to get involved with the program. Information about how organizations can become a host site also will be provided.

As part of the grant funding, 14 AmeriCorps members — 11 full-time (1,700-hour positions) and three part-time (450-hour positions) — will be placed in local host-sites for one year, beginning as early as Sept. 15, 2015. The AmeriCorps members will support community work to advance early childhood literacy and support the Graduate Skills Gap initiative in Grinnell, Iowa.

Organizations interested in hosting one or more AmeriCorps team members must submit an application by 5 p.m. Friday, July 31.  Host site assignments will be announced mid-August.  AmeriCorps team members hired to participate will be matched with host organizations in mid-September. Host site applications will be available at the information session.

About the Grinnell AmeriCorps Partnership

The Grinnell AmeriCorps Partnership is a community-wide effort to advance Grinnell’s Campaign for Grade Level Reading and support the Graduate Skills Gap initiative in Grinnell, Iowa.

Focusing on these initiatives, 14 AmeriCorps members will be placed in local community organizations to support work in each of the five key focus areas of the Campaign for Grade Level Reading:

•     Prevention of summer learning loss,
•     Prevention of chronic absence from school,
•     Making sure youngsters are ready for school,
•     Making sure students are healthy, and
•     Encouraging parent engagement.

In addition, AmeriCorps members will provide core “backbone” infrastructure, such as community and volunteer engagement to advance early childhood literacy and assist with the community’s Graduate Skills Gap pilot programming.