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AmeriCorps Seniors
Oct. 17, 2023
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Notes From the Director's Desk: October Edition
 Order promotional items for AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent, Senior Companion, Senior Demonstration, and RSVP programs.
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As the leaves begin to change and the weather starts to get cooler, I hope everyone has an opportunity to participate in some fun fall activities with friends and family. While many people think of Halloween and trick-or-treating as fun activities, I want to acknowledge a more serious commemorative, Ageism Awareness Day, which was recognized on Saturday. Oct. 7.
Ageism Awareness Day serves as a platform to challenge stereotypes, raise awareness about age discrimination, and advocate for the rights and dignity of older adults. It’s important for us to continue to be leaders in reframing how we talk about aging in society. Our volunteers challenge misconceptions about aging every day by sharing their skills, wisdom, and experience throughout the communities that they serve. Your projects are the perfect myth-buster and mindset challenger for ageism. By engaging in service activities that positively impact communities, older adults demonstrate that they are contributors to society, challenging the perception that they are solely dependent and recipients of services.
In addition to combating ageism, AmeriCorps Seniors also represent a diverse group of volunteers, bringing together people from various walks of life for the common good. As part of the 30th Anniversary of AmeriCorps, each month we are highlighting an area of service that is impacted by our volunteers and programs, and this month’s topic is Diversity in Service. Embracing diversity in volunteering brings together people of different ages, backgrounds, cultures, and abilities. When people from diverse backgrounds come together in a volunteering setting, it dismantles barriers like ageism and other forms of discrimination, promoting a more inclusive and tolerant society.
Atalaya Sergi, Director
AmeriCorps Seniors
AmeriCorps Centralized Recruitment Unit Recruitment Call
On Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. ET, the AmeriCorps Centralized Recruitment Unit will bring together AmeriCorps Seniors grantees to discuss your unique recruitment needs, tactical recruitment activities (including lead generation and cultivation) and share available recruitment resources.
Email Join@AmeriCorps.gov with subject line “AmeriCorps Seniors Recruitment Calls” if you have questions or want to connect before and/or after the call.
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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.
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Progress Reports Supplement Updates and Review of Grantee Resources: Tuesday, Oct. 17, 1 p.m. ET
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Progress Report Supplement Resources and Updating Station Rosters: Tuesday, Nov. 21, 1 p.m. ET
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The Modernization Office is continuing development of the new Grantee and Sponsor Portal, which will replace eGrants and preparing for the in-house custom build of the My AmeriCorps Portal Replacement platform. Both new IT systems are scheduled to launch by the end of September 2024.
The goal of the new modernized IT systems are:
- to capture AmeriCorps Senior volunteer data to better strengthen our national service story; and
- to support boosting the number of AmeriCorps Seniors volunteer placements by more effectively connecting prospective volunteer with service opportunities.
The Grantee and Sponsor Portal will feature enhancements to streamline reporting, integrate with Login.gov, Grants.gov, and SAM.gov to reduce duplicate data entry, allow for "search and apply" filtering by opportunities, show funding status, and more!
Stay tuned for more updates and reach out with any questions, comments, suggestions at modernization@cns.gov.
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 From our colleagues at the Federal Trade Commission
Weather-related disasters inflict severe losses on communities, from the wildfires that have devasted Maui, Hawaii, to hurricanes, floods, and ice storms. While those impacted try to rebuild their lives, scammers swiftly emerge to exploit these disasters. To ensure your charitable donations truly aid those in need, research and plan before giving. Here's advice to recognize, evade, and report disaster-related scams.
- Donate to charities you know have a proven track record in dealing with disasters.
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Find out exactly how much of every dollar you donate goes directly to the charity’s beneficiaries.
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Research the organization yourself — especially if the donation request comes from social media. Search the organization’s name plus “complaint,” “review,” “rating,” or “scam.” Check out the charity on the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator, Charity Watch, or Candid.
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If you’re considering giving to individuals on crowdfunding sites, it’s safest to give to someone you personally know and trust.
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Don’t donate to anyone who insists you can only pay by cash, gift card, wiring money, or cryptocurrency. Pay by credit card, which gives you more protections.
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If you plan to text to donate, confirm the number belongs to the correct charity.
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Operations Handbook Update
The AmeriCorps Seniors operations handbooks were updated on Thursday, Oct. 12. Key updates included National Service Criminal History Checks, monitoring resources, training resources, information regarding less than full-time project directors:
Pathfinder Information
AmeriCorps Seniors will be pulling station roster and contact information for a Pathfinder update in November. Take time to review your station roster list and update any stations that are no longer active and double check your location to ensure they fall into your approved geographic service area. If you have had staff changes, update your contact information to reflect the best contact information for interested volunteers.
Continuation and Renewal Application Due Dates
Please Note: These dates are tentative and subject to change. Fiscal year 2024 (Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023, to Monday, Sept. 30, 2024) grant awards are contingent on annual congressional appropriations and availability of funds.
Quarter three grantees (Monday, April 1, start date):
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Notice of funding opportunity opened: Friday, Aug. 25
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Applications due: Thursday, Oct. 26
- Training and grant resources can be found on RSVP Grantee page
Quarter four grantees (Monday, July 1, start date):
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Notice of funding opportunity scheduled to open: Tuesday, Jan. 9
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Applications due: Monday, March 11
Important Reminders:
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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.
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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.
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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.
Program Grantee Resource section
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:
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