October 2024
Members and site staff, our state's service commission - Serve Washington - invites you to join fellow Washington State AmeriCorps programs in kicking off the new program year! This year's event will be held via Zoom on October 30 from 1:00pm - 2:30pm, and will include an alumni Q&A session and optional member networking.
To attend the main event, register here by October 29.
To join the virtual networking session at 3:00pm, register here by October 29.
Have a question for the alumni panel? Submit it here by October 10.
With Election Day coming up (November 5), here's a quick reminder that AmeriCorps members are prohibited from engaging in the following during their service hours or while bearing anything with the AmeriCorps or Washington Service Corps logos:
- Participating in, or endorsing, events or activities that are likely to include advocacy for or against political parties, political platforms, political candidates, proposed legislation, or elected officials;
- Engaging in partisan political activities, or other activities designed to influence the outcome of an election to any public office;
- Attempting to influence legislation;
- Conducting a voter registration drive;
- Providing services for election or polling locations or in support of such activities.
You are welcome to participate in these activities as private citizens, on your own personal time. To review the full list of activities prohibited by AmeriCorps, check out Section IX in the member service agreement.
The Site Staff Orientation training is scheduled for tomorrow, October 3, 2:00-3:30pm. During this session, we will cover programmatic and policy changes for the 2024-25 program year, review the basics on member and program supervision, and share best practices to support your members and help them thrive this service term!
All site staff are expected to attend – if you have not received emails with the link to join this session, or if you won't be able to attend and haven't reached out yet, please contact our training specialist, Bryce Bateman, for assistance. We look forward to seeing you all tomorrow!
Mark your calendars! This year’s Annual Member Training event is scheduled for October 22-24 from 1:00-5:00pm each day. The training is mandatory for members to attend, so please prioritize this event and refrain from scheduling service activities during these times unless absolutely unavoidable. If you anticipate any scheduling conflicts, please contact our training specialist Bryce Bateman, and he’ll work to accommodate you.
The event agenda and links to join each session will be sent out soon, so be on the lookout for emails from Bryce with more information.
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Site staff, join us on November 6 at 11:30am for our next Lunch & Learn. We'll be discussing how to best support your members through the ups and downs of their service term, the steps involved in documenting, and when to notify WSC as your partner in providing support.
Click here to join.
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WSC Member Service Resource Kit
Happy Fall, y’all! We hope all of our members and site staff are getting settled into the new service year. Members, we know that the beginning of service can feel quite overwhelming with all the new trainings, meeting new people and settling into your new role. So, we wanted to be sure that in addition to all of the amazing things your site is teaching you, that you're fully aware of the resources that WSC and AmeriCorps has for you. Please take time to check out our Service Resource Kit, which is chock full of tips and info about local transportation options, additional training opportunities, how to sign up for Basic Food benefits, and more!
In recognition of World Mental Health Day on October 10, we'd like to remind our members about the Member Assistance Program (MAP).
The Member Assistance Program through AllOne Health is available to members at no charge. MAP provides webinars, podcasts, and other resources, plus phone, webchat, and face-to-face counseling and consulting on a wide range of topics including life/service balance and stress management, legal assistance, financial planning and more. Counselors are available 24/7 via phone if you ever need to talk with someone right away about a stressful/crisis situation or your mental health wellbeing.
To learn more, you can attend a live presentation via Zoom on October 10 from 11:00-11:30am. Click here to register.
MAP contact information and additional details are posted on our Member Resources webpage.
Let's Get Social
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If you aren't already, follow us today on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook to hear inspiring stories of service from WSC & WRC members, get to know some of our amazing partner sites, and learn more about how our programs are helping to provide workforce development opportunities across the state! |
Trivia time! We thought it would be fun to start adding trivia questions to our monthly bulletins every now and then as a fun test of knowledge in areas like member management, policies, Life after AmeriCorps, and tips & tricks. If you know the answer, great! If you didn’t know the answer - great, now you do!
Q: What holidays can members take off during their service term?
A: Members are eligible for the same holidays as the employees at their sponsoring organization. Taking these days off for holidays will not affect the stipend payment. However, holiday hours are not service hours: members cannot count any hours NOT served on a holiday on their timesheet. Extended office closures do not count as holidays; sites and members should work together to ensure there are hours available for members to serve. Review Section VII (page 13) of the member service agreement for more details. Contact your WSC Coordinator with any questions.
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