AmeriCorps VISTA Projects List

Mid-Atlantic Environmental Health Corps

Promoting sustainable environmental awareness and public health outreach programs which educate and mobilize underserved communities.

The Mid-Atlantic Environmental Health Corps AmeriCorps*VISTA Program has over 34 full-time positions available. Our partners, the National Nursing Center Consortium (NNCC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are seeking out dedicated individuals to join our team.

As an AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteer you will receive a living allowance of roughly $400 every two weeks and health insurance and prescriptions. You will also receive an educational award of $4,725 at the completion of your one-year term, or instead, a stipend of $1,200 at the completion of your one-year term. The educational award can be used to pay off existing loans or to further your education. If you are interested in the following positions and want to apply, call 1-800-352-1973, extension 45054 for an application package and information about these and other VISTA programs.

Project List
*Numbers correspond with our listings on the AmeriCorps website: www.americorps.org

0. Asthma Awareness and Education: Uniontown/Green County, Pa., Abington, Pa.
VISTA members will receive training on asthma issues and community outreach methods. In turn, the VISTAs will increase awareness, knowledge of asthma and its environmental triggers in low-income and underserved areas to families in targeted areas. VISTAs will facilitate and with nursing students provide education, rotating through the Nursing Center administering home visits for this project.
Open Date: Immediately

2. Wellness Program: Stroudsburg, Pa., Pittsburgh, Pa.
VISTA members will assist Nurse-Managed Wellness Center staff in meeting the identified goals of health problems facing seniors, accessible, acceptable and affordable services, ability to live independently creating optimal arrangements for them and their families. Project goals will be met through setting up, administering and evaluation of clinic services. The VISTAs will provide support in these services and assist in grant writing and reporting.
Open Date: Immediately

3. Computer Reuse and Recycling: Philadelphia, Pa.
VISTA will partner with community groups to help develop/expand computer recycling or training programs in low-income communities. Build partnerships with community groups working to bridge the "digital divide" (i.e., the gap between those who have access to computer technology and those who do not) and provide support to their mission, including developing grant proposals. Support the operation and marketing of the Region 3 eCycling Project (regional electronics recycling program) by assisting with data collection and program tracking..
Open Date: Immediately

4. Outreach and Pilot Programs at Nurse-Managed Health Centers: Philadelphia, Pa., Kennett Square, Pa.
VISTA will receive training on, help coordinate, and facilitate home visits in the Lead Safe Babies, Asthma Safe Kids, and other programs. Participate in nurse-managed health center meetings to determine needs for and types of new programs in the community.
Open Date: Immediately

5. RADICAL Youth (Real Actions Directed to Improving Children's Health and Lifestyle): Philadelphia, Pa.
RADICAL Youth educates and trains youth about environmental health hazards and what they can do to protect themselves and others from potential hazards. Youth range from ages 10- 16 and will be recruited through nurse-managed centers at local after-school programs in schools surrounding the center, through organizations (4-H groups, Girls and Boys Clubs, Parent-Teacher Associations )and youth groups associated with religious institutions. This project will be at a Temple University Health Clinic.
Open Date: August 2003

6. Asthma Education and Outreach/Leadership in Nursing/Women's and Community Health: Philadelphia, Pa.
VISTA will increase awareness of asthma and its environmental triggers in low-income areas of North Philadelphia through an in-home asthma education program, "Asthma Safe Kids"(ASK). VISTA will coordinate, facilitate implementation, manage, evaluate program and community sustainability. Coordination will be through NNCC staff and nurse-managed health centers in Philadelphia targeted areas.
Open Date: Immediately

7. Community Education Initiative: Philadelphia, Pa.
VISTA will assist developers and instructors of existing training courses to provide adequate and vital training to community organizations, churches, and environmental organizations in low-income areas, on key environmental management techniques.
Open Date: August 2003

8. Environmental Education/Environmental Justice: Washington, DC
VISTA members will work with community groups within low income communities educating the public on dangers associated with environmental health issues. VISTAs provide community-based environmental health and children's health education programs on a wide array of topics to community groups, unions, government officials, youth groups, and professionals in homes, schools, workplaces, and community centers. Works with the school district to start recycling system in the schools. The VISTAs will design and implement the Student Environmental Development Program (SEDP), environmental training for Middle School Students throughout the Spring and Summer, continuing with promoting environmental awareness and protection throughout the Anacostia area of Washington, DC.
Open Date: August 2003

9. Watershed and Nonpoint Source Education and Outreach: Philadelphia, Pa.
VISTA will help inform and provide low-income and under-served communities and impaired waterways with resources such as informational brochures on what is affecting their waterways and what can be done to prevent polluted runoff. The VISTA will find targeted communities to contact and be responsible for outreach, facilitating school and community presentations.
Open Date: August 2003

Watershed and Nonpoint Source Education and Outreach/Volunteer Water Monitoring Project: Philadelphia, Pa.
VISTA member will help inform and provide low-income and under- served communities and impaired waterways with resources such as informational brochures and facilitation on monitoring and becoming a water steward. The VISTA will develop targeted presentations on the nature and extent of the nonpoint source water quality problems and monitoring in the area, find targeted communities to contact and be responsible for outreach, facilitating school and community presentations.
Open Date: August 2003

10. Watersheds, Nonpoint Source and Source Water Protection: Philadelphia, Pa.
VISTA member will receive orientation training on watershed issues, nonpoint source pollution, source water protection program and how all of these interact. They will select communities that have completed Source Water Assessment plans, work closely with these groups to understand their needs and work with watershed groups (organizations, schools, municipalities and utilities).
Open Date: August 2003

11. Lead Poisoning Prevention/Outreach and programs at Nurse-Managed Health Centers (NNCC): Philadelphia, Pa.
VISTA will coordinate and facilitate outreach efforts of community workers and student nurses, organize and coordinate data, become trained and facilitate training for future outreach workers on lead poisoning prevention techniques. VISTA will assist supervisor with special projects and participate in low-income community based research for expansion purposes of NNCC member center services.
Open Date: August 2003

MCP Hahnemann Health Center Adolescent Initiative & Family Center (NNCC) Philadelphia, Pa.
VISTA will be responsible for coordinating a new Adolescent Initiative in low-income areas (specific schools) by running focus groups with adolescents to determine their needs and encouraging adolescents to come in for needed health care services. NNCC Project.
Open Date: November 2002

12. Brownfield Assessment Demonstration Pilot Program: Wilmington, De.
VISTA will help inform and involve the individuals, grass-roots community groups, non-profit organizations, and social service agencies of low income communities in Brownfield planning and redevelopment efforts in EPA Brownfield Pilot jurisdictions. Brownfield - a site that has actual or perceived contamination - but has a potential for reuse. The community will benefit from this awareness and can benefit from programs EPA and Brownfield Federal Partnership can offer.
Open August, 2003

13. Superfund Community Relations Program: Philadelphia, Pa.
VISTA helps promote awareness to citizens affected by a hazardous waste site (a SuperFund site) to promote control and cleanup possible through a Federal Legal Act. The VISTA will reach out to targeted communities via education, and has freedom to promote awareness of hazardous waste.
Open Date: Immediately

15. Data and Technology Assistant: Philadelphia, Pa.
VISTA will assist Data Project Network Manager in getting information about clients who frequent nurse-managed health centers in low-income communities, using the information for functioning, funding, evaluation, policy development and reimbursement purposes. Needing this information to keep up with these tasks, the VISTA member would serve in a facilitative and supportive role, facilitating training and responding to center's needs and coordinating projects.
Open Date: November 2003

16. VISTA Leader: Philadelphia, Pa.
VISTA Leader is responsible for limited administrative duties including
VISTA recruitment, assistance with On-Site-Orientation for new recruits, quarterly schedules for VISTA program, facilitating one monthly VISTA meeting, promoting success and accomplishments of VISTA projects, coordinating group events, coordinating the production of quarterly newsletter (The Giving Tree), and acting as a liaison with the State office. Other duties include conducting semi-monthly site visits to provide assistance as needed and collect information on the progress of projects.
Open Date: January, 2003

17. Environmental Education and Environmental Justice: West Virginia & Western Pennsylvania
VISTA members will work with community groups within low income communities educating the public on dangers associated with environmental health issues. VISTAs provide community-based environmental health and children's health education programs on a wide array of topics to community groups, unions, government officials, youth groups, and professionals in homes, schools, workplaces, and community centers. Position will work out of our Wheeling,WV and/or Pittsburgh, PA offices. The Wheeling,WV Environmental Education/Outreach project is surrounded by low and moderate income communities who are underserved in areas of environmental education and/or sensitized to self-help and environmental justice issues.
Open Date: Immediately

18. Environmental Education and Environmental Justice: Wilmington, De.
VISTA member will promote environmental awareness and protection throughout a selected low-income community in Wilmington. and will participate in a Horticulture collaboration with a Child Care Center to offer outdoor garden- based ecology sessions for homeless and low-income 5 year-old students. The VISTA will also coordinate school contacts, recruit and follow through to fill the Student Environmental Education Program (SEDP), which serves middle school students in low-income areas affected by urban environmental issues.
Open Date: August, 2003

19. Chesapeake Bay Fish Consumption Project : Annapolis, Md.
VISTA will begin to assess fish consumption patterns in Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay waters in order to get better estimates of population exposure and ultimately risks. Many in low-income communities fish for subsistence; this study will allow better understanding and protect those in low-income communities by evaluating the environmental risk association with consumption of contaminated fish.
Open Date: July, 2003

20. Superfund - Eastern Pennsylvania: Eastern, Pa.
VISTA will assist in low-income community involvement for the Superfund program, which is EPA's program to clean hazardous waste sites. This will consist of public outreach activities to develop a dialogue with the community and make presentations in schools, with community organizations, elected officials and church groups.
Open Date: November, 2002

21. Formerly Used Defense Site Program (FUDS): Philadelphia, Pa.
This project works with land sites which have been turned over to states/localities/private entities over the years, which are now public places that need to be assessed. This is an emerging area in the Superfund program. VISTA will do demographic analysis on the properties and surrounding low-income and other communities, which involves analyzing files, archive searches of past activities, and finally need to reach out to communities to notify them of past use of the property.
Open Date: April, 2003

22. Lead Poisoning Prevention: Gwynedd Valley, Pa., Huntingdon, Pa., Uniontown/Green County, Pa., North Hills, Pa., Abington, Pa., Bloomsburg, Pa., Lansdale, Pa.
VISTA members will receive training on lead poisoning prevention from NNCC and nurse-managed health centers and begin facilitating coordination of program with home visits in Lead Safe Babies Program in targeted low-income and underserved areas in Pennsylvania areas, where nurse-managed health centers are located. VISTAs will be involved in community and events in order to increase awareness about lead poisoning.
Open Date: Immediately

Skills and Qualifications:

Good oral and written communication. Public Speaking to small groups.
Knowledge of environmental education and science, urban planning, or other related fields is valuable, but not required.
Experience with local community organization, youth groups and public agencies.
Experience in planning and implementing volunteer projects or working with youth.
Computer skills: word-processing.
Ability to work among diverse communities.
Driver's license.
Bachelor degree in related field or equivalent experience, acceptable, but not required.
Some college and general knowledge skills, helpful in each category.

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