Volunteers for 55 and older; Earn a Non-Taxable Stipend per month for volunteering

. AmeriCorps Seniors has 3 opportunities, Senior Companion Program (SCP), Choose Home Program (CHP) and Foster Grandparent Program (FGP).

1. Senior Companion Program was created to provide companionship to home-bound seniors and allow them to stay living in their homes and living independently longer. Before Covid-19 shut most of our volunteer work down, Senior Companions would go over to their client’s home, help with day-to-day tasks like opening mail, light housekeeping, preparing a meal, running errands, and transporting the clients to doctors appointments. With Covid-19 affecting our Senior Clients, JFSA and AmeriCorps Seniors put a stop to at home visits. We have worked very hard to come up with more virtual visits or phone calls. We are allowing our volunteers to assist in the Food Pantry by bagging up and delivering food to our homebound clients; packing and delivering PPE to clients and volunteers; as well as doing virtual trainings.
2. Choose Home is a pilot program that was launched in 5 states, with Nevada being lucky enough to get the program. The program was created to keep home-bound Veterans in their homes and living independently longer. Most of our Choose Home clients used to have a Veteran companion that would go to their homes before the pandemic hit, and now are feeling isolated in their homes alone or with their spouse. The Choose Home Program instead of having in person home visits, we are looking at having virtual visits or non-contact visits. We are also allowing our volunteers to assist in the Food Pantry, bagging and delivering food to our Veteran Clients; packaging and delivering PPE to clients and volunteers; as well as doing virtual training.
3. Foster Grandparent Program was created to assist low-income students who are falling behind in their classes a little extra help. Foster Grandparents before Covid-19 worked with Title I Elementary Schools to aid teachers by providing one-on-one or small group tutoring in the classroom. Helping students with reading, sight words, spelling, and some basic math. With Covid-19 shutting down schools, the Foster Grandparent Program has moved to more virtual opportunities. Right now, Foster Grandparents are doing technology training in order to prepare them for doing e-tutoring, recording themselves reading books to be placed on the CCSD website and a pen pal program.

Each of these opportunities come with a small allowance that is non-taxable and does not affect any income-based benefits (i.e., SNAP, Lower Income Apartment rents). To qualify for the stipend is dependent on the volunteer’s current income (i.e., Social Security, SSI, Pension, Part Time Job).

We have an electronic application for you to fill out and once that is received, you will get a package in the mail that has all the paperwork and information that you need. We can also do a zoom training to discuss the paperwork. To fill out the application please click here.