Letter of Interest in Veterans Focused AmeriCorps program.

1. Goodwill Industries of Northern New England

Goodwill Industries of Northern New England is seeking partners interested in developing a new AmeriCorps program that will serve Veterans and military families in Maine, New Hampshire, and Northern Vermont. The Statside Service Corps veterans proposal will be submitted to the Corporation for National and Community Service by Goodwill in January. Partner organizations/government agencies will be eligible to receive up to five AmeriCorps members to work directly with veterans and military families. Our proposal will describe ways AmeriCorps members will serve at individual agencies to enhance and expand existing veterans programs or create new programs serving veterans and their families. Members will be focused on a variety of needs such as: education, employment, receipt of benefits, housing, medical care, mental health support, and transportation.

Completing this survey shows your interest and commitment to bring this program to your organization. Contractual commitments will not be developed until late spring 2012, following a planning meeting with each partner to set funding parameters and AmeriCorps member position descriptions.

Goodwill AmeriCorps is excited by the opportunity to utilize proven AmeriCorps strategies to address these critical issues. Goodwill has 10 years of experience running highly successful AmeriCorps Programs to meet a variety of community needs.

Goodwill’s experienced AmeriCorps staff looks forward to working with you to craft position descriptions that capture the elements listed below that will result in maximum impact on your organization's veterans' needs. Since 2003, we have had great success working with local agencies and schools to recruit passionate AmeriCorps members to fill similar positions that make significant change in a community. Feel free to call Steve Niles at 207.400.6352 or e-mail him at steve.niles@goodwillnne.org if you have any questions while you are completing this form.

Thank you for your interest in the Stateside Service Corps.

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* 1. Organizational Information

Organization Name

Contact person Name

Contact person Title

E-mail Address

Phone

Physical address

Mailing address

Town

State

Zip Code

County

Website Address (if applicable)

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* 2. Please briefly describe your veteran population and why your needs for assistance are pressing. What do you most see an AmeriCorps member doing to assist veterans and military families?

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* 3. Please rate the following AmeriCorps member activities. If you would like to have a member or members doing all of the activities you can rate them all 4 (4 is the highest, 0 is the lowest). Volunteers recruited by the AmeriCorps members will assist in appropriate activities.

	Zero (No need)	One (Not a priority)	Two (Could benefit from)	Three (Clear need)	Four (A top priority)
Suicide Prevention	Suicide Prevention Zero (No need)	Suicide Prevention One (Not a priority)	Suicide Prevention Two (Could benefit from)	Suicide Prevention Three (Clear need)	Suicide Prevention Four (A top priority)
Housing	Housing Zero (No need)	Housing One (Not a priority)	Housing Two (Could benefit from)	Housing Three (Clear need)	Housing Four (A top priority)
Veterans Outreach	Veterans Outreach Zero (No need)	Veterans Outreach One (Not a priority)	Veterans Outreach Two (Could benefit from)	Veterans Outreach Three (Clear need)	Veterans Outreach Four (A top priority)
Employment	Employment Zero (No need)	Employment One (Not a priority)	Employment Two (Could benefit from)	Employment Three (Clear need)	Employment Four (A top priority)
Education	Education Zero (No need)	Education One (Not a priority)	Education Two (Could benefit from)	Education Three (Clear need)	Education Four (A top priority)
Transportation	Transportation Zero (No need)	Transportation One (Not a priority)	Transportation Two (Could benefit from)	Transportation Three (Clear need)	Transportation Four (A top priority)
Medical care	Medical care Zero (No need)	Medical care One (Not a priority)	Medical care Two (Could benefit from)	Medical care Three (Clear need)	Medical care Four (A top priority)
Mental Health	Mental Health Zero (No need)	Mental Health One (Not a priority)	Mental Health Two (Could benefit from)	Mental Health Three (Clear need)	Mental Health Four (A top priority)
Access to Benefits	Access to Benefits Zero (No need)	Access to Benefits One (Not a priority)	Access to Benefits Two (Could benefit from)	Access to Benefits Three (Clear need)	Access to Benefits Four (A top priority)

Comments:

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* 4. What additional veterans needs could AmeriCorps members help meet?

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* 5. How many full time Americorps Members would you like to have serve at your agency/organization? Although this is not a formal commitment we will use these numbers to figure out how many AmeriCorps members we should request in our grant proposal so please be realistic.

1 full time stipended AmeriCorps member

2 full time stipended AmeriCorps members

3 full time stipended AmeriCorps mebmers

4 full time stipended AmeriCorps members

5 full time stipended AmeriCorps members

More than 5?

Interested in more than 5? Why? How many?

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* 6. In addition to hosting stipended AmeriCorps members, you have the option to request scholarships (Education Awards) for community volunteers (or students who are over 17) who commit to volunteering over 300 hours. How many scholarships would you like to request (understanding that you must fill all of the scholarship slots that you request)?

	Number of members
Minimum Time Education Award Only Member slots (300 Hour commitment)	Minimum Time Education Award Only Member slots (300 Hour commitment) Number of members menu
Quarter Time Education Award Only Member slots (450 Hour commitment)	Quarter Time Education Award Only Member slots (450 Hour commitment) Number of members menu
Reduced Part Time Ed. Award Only Member slots (675 hour commitment)	Reduced Part Time Ed. Award Only Member slots (675 hour commitment) Number of members menu

Please briefly describe your vision for engaging these volunteers.

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* 7. AmeriCorps' parent agency, The Corporation for National and Community Service, funds AmeriCorps programs as Matching grants to build sustainability and community support for the projects/programs. Based on preliminary budgets the responsibility of your agenciy would be around $6,500/stipended member/year. For example: By reserving $13,000 in your 2012-13 budget you can receive two full time people to help you meet your goals to serve veterans. From what part of your budget do you plan to provide any required cash match? Please note that there is no cash match required for the Education Award Only members requested in question 6.

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* 8. If a union is present at your organization would you be able to provide a "Letter of Union Concurrence" by January 11th?

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* 9. Finally, would you be willing to assist in an advisory role to this new AmeriCorps initiative? As we take our next steps, we intend to formalize our current cadre of informal advisors who have been essential in helping us move this concept forward. We would appreciate your assistance in this endeavor.

yes

maybe

Thank you for your time completing this Letter of Interest form. Your continued work supporting our regions Veterans is greatly appreciated. We will be contacting each organization that submits a Letter of Interest in order to arrange a one-on-one meeting to further plan what this partnership will include. We look forward to working with you on this critical issue.