Description
Appalachian Foster Grandparents enrolls senior volunteers, age 60 and beyond to serve a minimum of 20 hours each week with children who have learning problems. They may need assistance with the basics in early childhood education. The volunteers will shadow the children, providing tutoring, skill building, and brining their work to a higher level by the end of the grading period. You will usually have 3-5 kids you will be assisting during the day. Grandparents may stay in one classroom or move from room to room as the assignment lays out.
The volunteers will be assigned to one school, day care or head start center and they may request transfers to a different when or if the placement is not fitting their need. We enroll volunteers at the local elementary and middle schools, BROC Head Start Centers, and Child Care Centers throughout the rural mountains and foothills of Western North Carolina. We serve the North Western section which include Avery, Ashe, Alleghany, Watauga and Wilkes Counties.
Our program is sponsored by Appalachian State University in Boone North Carolina, and our home office is located in Jefferson, NC, the furtherest point North West in the Start - or Ashe County.
Foster Grandparents must be 60 years of age, have adequate transportation, and love to work with children or teenagers. We enroll 115 Grandparents each year to work with over 445 needy children at 50 stations within our service area.
The program provides a full range of training for the new Grandparents that include a 5 hour mini training, 20 hours of Orientation For New Volunteer training prior to being placed in a permanent slot, and the Grandparents must attend a 4 hour In-Service Training each month instead of going to their station.
We enjoy many outings, luncheons, parties, and trips with our volunteers and feel they like the special events we hold for them. Gifts, Calendars, Planners, Manuals, Coolers, and Totes are presented to the seniors at our events. Service awards are given every 5 years to recognize the Grandparents for outstanding contributions.
The Volunteers receive an hourly stipend of $2.65 per hour served and is paid directly to thier mail box each month. They receive 12 hours each month of Vacation time, and 8 hours of Sick Leave. As a Grandparent you will be paid for all holidays your station observes.
It is truly a win-win situation and is extremely rewarding to know you made a real difference in a child's life or that you turned a child onto reading, math, or the sciences!
Call Tammy Taylor, FGP Director at the above number if you are interested in volunteering with Appalachian Foster Grandparent Program.
