The Members...The Service

The Members...The Service

Project POWER members create a patchwork quilt of service that covers an array of community needs. Some members work directly with children and others recruit and support volunteers for local non-profit agencies. All of them, though, are committed to contributing to our community. Whether they're helping a fourth-grader with math, playing basketball with some middle-schoolers, or hosting a volunteer appreciation lunch, our members have fun becoming a part of the Asheville-Buncombe County Community.

Full-time

Committed to 1700 hours of service (roughly 35 hours over 48 weeks), full-time members serve in one or both of two different capacities: program enrichment or volunteer recruitment and support.

Monday through Thursday morning hours (8am-Noon) are spent in either an elementary, middle, or high school serving as enrichment specialists. Team members may serve as Teacher Assistants, In-Class Tutors, Garden Specialist, Parent Involvement Coordinators, ESL Assistants, Volunteer Coordinators or Computer Technology Specialists. The needs of individual schools will determine the nature of each members' responsibilities.

After a lunch break, members report to their afternoon site--either after school enrichment or volunteer recruitment and support--and serve from 2:00 pm until 6:00 pm.

After school enrichment

While our after school partner organizations are as diverse as the populations they serve, the goals of members are similar regardless of site assignment: to introduce the kids to new ideas, new opportunities and new ways of responding to the world.

Members have a chance to work with students to identify a community need and develop a 10-session service learning project around it. The students are given a pre-test around the service topic to see what they know heading in, and a post-test to see what they know after the experience. In between, members bring in guest speakers, take students on field trips (as permitted by the program), organize active service for the students and celebrate accomplishments with the ever-popular pizza party.

Project POWER members are also committed to teaching non-violent conflict resolution skills to after school programs. Whether it's through the establishment of a peer mediation program or implementation of alternative consequences and incentives, it's important to give students skills to resolve issues with words rather than fists.

Members are also encouraged to work alongside program staff to plan appropriate activities the students might not otherwise have an opportunity to experience. Project POWER members allow programs to excel in spite of funding problems and staff shortages, and give kids the chance to learn Spanish, learn about Indian cuisine and culture, or work in a garden, for example.

While members are not officially staff members, it is important that they take on a sense of ownership and an attitude of leadership in the programs. Without both, relationships will falter and potential will never find its way to success.

Volunteer Recruitment and Support

This service track gives members an opportunity to jump head-long into the behind-the-scenes world of non-profit organizations.

Members are responsible for engaging community groups and organizations (churches, professional organizations, etc.) to recruit volunteers to meet the various needs of their program sites. Members are also responsible for developing a volunteer orientation program, for ensuring the success of the partnerships and for supporting volunteers through their service. Even though program needs vary - from tutors for an after school program to labor to clean out an old storage center - the goal is the same: to give non-profits the ability to begin and maintain relationships with community members.