We hope that during our members' year of service they have a chance to not only help their communities and sites but that they also have a chance to grow personally and professionally during their service term.
All trainings and meetings, with the exception of SERVES, take place in Wenatchee. Members who serve outside of Wenatchee will be asked to travel to these trainings, but will be reimbursed $0.40 per mile if they carpool.
Our program offers multiple training sessions to its members throughout the first month of service. Orientation spans the first full week and every subsequent Friday in September. Since members serve in such diverse environments, the basic training we provide to the whole group is broad in nature. Be prepared for teambuilding exercises; we believe in creating a meaningful community among AmeriCorps members!
After September, we spend an average of one full Friday per month together in "IMAC" (Intermountain AmeriCorps) meetings, where we may hold additional trainings.
Trainings to expect at Orientation and throughout the year include:
All members will be trained in various aspects of disaster preparedness. In the event of a local disaster, members will then be able to assist in recovery efforts as their skills allow. Trainings will take place during orientation, team meetings, and at SERVES.
All members will attend a four-day, overnight, statewide training in late Fall for further skill-building. SERVES is a series of workshops attended by over 800 AmeriCorps members. All members are required to attend a Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Shelter Management training, but are free to choose among other workshops to enhance their service abilities.
Lodging and meals are all paid for while attending SERVES.
Workshop topics may include:
Although members perform volunteer service every day, we try to branch out to different kinds of community service projects a few times each year. The hope is that we learn through serving our communities in a new way while spending time together as a team. These projects often involve unskilled manual labor that fits a variety of abilities.
Members will help organize and participate in service projects on three national days of service:
Every Spring, members identify needs in the community, propose projects to meet these needs, and choose and organize projects that the entire team participates in. These are half-day projects designed to address a simple need with the labor of all of our members. We complete three to five projects each year. Members have the opportunity to practice project planning and leadership skills if desired.