Notes From the Director's Desk: September Edition

AmeriCorps sent this bulletin at 09/21/2023 01:30 PM EDT

Notes From the Director's Desk: September Edition

AmeriCorps is celebrating its 30th Anniversary all year long!

Message From the Director

Dear colleagues,

This month kicks off AmeriCorps 30th Anniversary. It’s a time for us to reflect on the incredible impact our members and volunteers, including the hundreds of thousands of AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers, have on communities nationwide through the power of service. Please join us over the next year in celebrating this milestone by sharing your stories and photos, posting on social media, and branding your events through the AmeriCorps 30th Anniversary Social Press Kit.

Over the summer, I had the pleasure of visiting programs in Maine, Vermont, and Michigan. It was wonderful to hear stories from volunteers and celebrate the success of program directors and coordinators. I’m so thankful for the time and thoughtfulness that directors, coordinators, and portfolio managers put into hosting me.

The number one challenge I heard from directors and volunteers was - transportation. Reducing transportation barriers is vital for promoting widespread participation in national service and we are building a relationship with the Federal Transit Administration, within the Department of Transportation, to address these issues. Thanks to collaboration with partners such as the National Center for Mobility Management and the Federal Transit Administration, AmeriCorps Seniors directors have access to resources like the Federal Program Inventory and the Federal Funding Braiding Guide, which identify federal programs and funding that can assist volunteers with transportation needs. This blog on the National Center for Mobility Management website has a lot of good information on this topic.

This month we recognized the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance. While visiting Kansas, I had the opportunity to participate in a September 11th event and discuss the significance of engaging in service. Please share your stories of 9/11 remembrance and service with us and use our story collection tool.

In service,

Atalaya Sergi, Director
AmeriCorps Seniors

Site Visits

(From left to right) Jason Osterhaus, district representative in the office of Senator Jerry Morgan; John Mugler, district director in the office of Senator Roger Marshall; Atalaya Sergi, AmeriCorps Seniors director; Keelin Pierce, principal of Whitson Elementary School, Grandma Belinda Williams; Jeff Schroeder, AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent program project director; Daniel Cruz, AmeriCorps senior portfolio manager; and Matt Brillhart, AmeriCorps portfolio manager.

AmeriCorps Centralized Recruitment Unit Recruitment Call

The AmeriCorps Centralized Recruitment Unit is eager to bring together AmeriCorps Seniors grantees to discuss your unique recruitment needs, tactical recruitment activities (including lead generation and cultivation) and share available recruitment resources.

Next Steps

Register to attend the call, on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. ET.
Connect with other AmeriCorps Seniors grantee staff working in the communications, recruitment and marketing fields
Email Join@AmeriCorps.gov with subject line “ACS Recruitment Calls” if you have questions or want to connect before and/or after the call

Training Corner

Grantee Essentials Training and Technical Assistance

Join AmeriCorps Seniors each month for the Grantee Essentials Training and Technical Assistance Call to dive into specific technical assistance topics to help you build your skills while managing your AmeriCorps Seniors grant.

Tuesday, Oct. 17, 1 p.m. ET
Tuesday, Nov. 21, 1 p.m. ET

Register

Missed our last call? Check out the Grantee Essentials TTA and Tuesday Talks learning path in Litmos.

Pilot Project

Building Bridges Across Generations

By Jennifer Leshnower, Bridging & Democracy Fellow

As AmeriCorps’ first Bridging & Democracy Fellow, I have the honor of supporting the President’s unity and democracy agenda by leading the agency’s charge of bridging divides that can manifest as: generational gaps, cultural differences, economic disparities, and varying viewpoints on societal matters.

Greater Good Science Center, a leading authority in the study of bridging differences, defines bridge building as:

active and intentional efforts to connect people across divides;
seeking to understand someone else’s perspective;
seeing the humanity in others; and
identifying shared values without expecting consensus.

In partnership with Service Year Alliance, we’ve launched a multi-year bridge-building pilot project where will share lessons learned and identify approaches that may complement your unique organizational needs. I look forward to connecting on the October AmeriCorps Seniors and National Associations call. I can be reached via email at jleshnower@cns.gov.

Elder Justice Corner

From our colleagues at the Federal Trade Commission

Avoid Scams When Using Payment Apps

While payment apps such as Venmo, Cashapp, and Zelle provide a quick and easy way to transfer money to friends and family, scammers have also been known to exploit these apps to deceive people. Scammers use tactics like impersonating loved ones in trouble, promising prizes with fees, or posing as banks to trick users into transferring money to them through payment apps. Sending money through payment apps is like sending cash, making it challenging to recover.

Ways to avoid scams:

Verify payment requests by contacting the person, business, or institutions directly using a phone number you know to be real.
Banks will never ask users to transfer money, share personal information, or provide passcodes.
Avoid paying someone who insists that you can only pay with a gift card, cryptocurrency, payment app, or a wire transfer service.

Find more advice at the Federal Trade Commission website.

Report a scam

CHIP and Medicaid Renewals

Stay informed those about CHIP and Medicaid renewals.

View this resources:

Reaching Children and Families in School-Based and Early Education and Care Settings Communications Toolkit
Medicaid resource: All Hands-on-deck: Keeping People Covered As States Restart Routine Medicaid Renewals
Medicaid resource: All Hands-On-Deck: What Can You Do?
Other outreach and educational resources related to Medicaid and CHIP renewals are available including recently-posted resources to help reach Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander people (English); Black Americans (English); and Hispanic or Latino people (English and Spanish)

Learn More

Program Updates

Continuation and Renewal Application Due Dates

Please Note: These dates are tentative and subject to change. Fiscal year 2024 (Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023 – Monday, Sept. 30, 2024) grant awards are contingent on annual congressional appropriations and availability of funds.

Quarter three grantees (Monday, April 1, start date):

Notice of funding opportunity opened: Friday, Aug. 25

Applications due: Thursday, Oct. 26
New training and grant resources can be found on RSVP Grantee page

Quarter four grantees (Monday, July 1, start date):

Notice of funding opportunity scheduled to open: Tuesday, Jan. 9
Applications due: Monday, March 11

 Important Reminders:

It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure their SAM registration and Unique Entity Identifier are active. Awards will not be made to organizations that have expired registrations.
To apply in eGrants, it is required that two individuals from each organization have active eGrants accounts. The authorized representative and project director must be different individuals with different eGrants accounts. Applications will be returned if the same person is listed in both fields.
On-time application submissions are required. AmeriCorps Seniors does not guarantee on-time funding decisions or grant awards for organizations that submit late applications.

Need assistance? Contact the eGrants Help Desk.

Reporting Requirements

For reporting deadlines, review your grant's terms and conditions and section VII reporting requirements:

Reports will be made available in eGrants 90 days before the due date. If the option to enter report data is not available in eGrants, please reach out to your portfolio manager.

Current reports due:

Federal Financial Report Semi-Annual Due: Monday, Oct. 30
AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP and Senior Demonstration Program with an April start date.
AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion that realigned to a July start date.

Resources for Reporting

For instructions on, the project progress report and federal financial report, visit your program's grantee resources section, select “submit a progress report” or “submit a Federal Financial Report” as the action, then click “apply” to show the resources.

Section 11 Reports and Recording in handbooks:

Litmos Trainings for Reporting:

Manage preferences / AmeriCorps.gov

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