Position Title: Community Stabilization \& Low\-Barrier Service Engagement – VISTA Summer Associate
Conservation Legacy Program: Stewards Individual Placement
Site Location:
Downtown Beckley Business Association DBA Beckley Day Center
208 Main Street Sublevel Beckley WV 25801
Terms of Service:
* Start Date: 6/1/2026
* End Date: 8/9/2026
* AmeriCorps Slot Classification: 300 hours (Minimum\-Time)
Purpose:
This project directly addresses poverty alleviation by targeting the structural and immediate barriers that keep individuals in cycles of homelessness and economic instability in Beckley Day Center’s service area. In Beckley, West Virginia is a small Appalachian city surrounded by rural communities, poverty is often long\-term and intergenerational, shaped by economic decline, limited employment opportunities, housing shortages, and gaps in access to healthcare, transportation, and education. Many individuals experience poverty alongside untreated health conditions, substance use disorders, or the loss of stable identification and mailing access, which effectively blocks entry into employment, housing, and public benefits.*
Poverty in this area is not only defined by low income, but by barrier poverty, the inability to meet basic needs or access systems required for stability. Without access to hygiene, mail, identification documents, or reliable information, individuals are excluded from job applications, housing programs, education, and recovery services. The Beckley Day Center’s low\-barrier model addresses these entry\-level barriers first, creating the conditions necessary for people to reengage with systems that support economic mobility.*
This project advances poverty alleviation by strengthening the Day Center’s capacity to sustain and expand these foundational services. Through improved data tracking, impact reporting, and funder\- and donor\-focused communication, the project helps secure resources that keep essential services available and accessible. By stabilizing individuals at the most basic level and improving the organization’s ability to coordinate partnerships and funding, the project supports pathways out of poverty, moving individuals from crisis to stabilization, and ultimately toward housing, employment, treatment, and long\-term self\-sufficiency within the Beckley community.*
This project builds capacity at the Beckley Day Center by strengthening data tracking, documentation, and impact reporting systems that support sustainability and strategic growth beyond direct service delivery. By improving funder\- and donor\-focused communication and organizing program outcomes, the project enhances the Center’s ability to secure resources, maintain partnerships, and expand long\-term impact.*
Description of Duties:
The Summer Associate will focus on capacity\-building activities that produce internal planning resources, documentation tools, and community engagement materials. Duties may include compiling labor market research summaries, developing workforce resource inventories, creating community asset maps, organizing environmental data sets, drafting partnership coordination frameworks, designing planning templates and resource guides, and assisting with public\-facing informational workshops, outreach campaigns, or site observations. Activities are designed to strengthen host organizations’ capacity, guide long\-term workforce and environmental program development, provide tangible connections between planning tools and community needs, and support measurable outcomes in workforce access, environmental stewardship, and community engagement.
AmeriCorps VISTA members at the Beckley Day Center will support capacity\-building efforts that strengthen low\-barrier services for individuals experiencing homelessness and economic hardship. Members will assist with program data collection and reporting, volunteer coordination, community outreach, and partnership development with local service providers. Duties may include organizing impact data, supporting resource navigation systems, developing outreach materials, and assisting with grant readiness and documentation.
VISTA members will gain hands\-on experience in nonprofit operations, rural homelessness response, and community systems change while working in Beckley, a close\-knit Appalachian community. Ideal applicants are organized, adaptable, and motivated by social justice, collaboration, and meaningful service. Members will build professional skills, expand networks, and contribute to sustainable community solutions with visible impact.
Qualifications:
- Desired education level: High School Diploma
- Language requirement: English
- United States citizen, United States national, or a lawful permanent resident alien
- At least 17 years of age
- Has received a high school diploma or equivalency certificate; or has not dropped out of elementary or secondary school to enroll as an AmeriCorps participant, and agrees to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent prior to using the education award
- Agrees to provide information to establish eligibility and to complete a National Service Criminal History Check.
- Typically, this position is expected to serve full\-time, 35\-40 hours per week, but exact service schedules may vary. A half hour lunch break will not be counted towards AmeriCorps service
- Permits attendance at school during off hours;
- Permits working at another job during off hours;
- Member will receive an orientation that includes training on AmeriCorps prohibited and unallowable activities.
- Member will receive a Virtual Member Orientation (VMO) from VISTA on their first day of service.
- Segal AmeriCorps Education Award of $1,565\.08
- Living Allowance of $957\.46 (taxable) every other week.
- Healthcare Coverage if Eligible
- Childcare Coverage if Eligible
- Loan forbearance if Eligible
- Interest Payments if Eligible
- Recreational Opportunities
- Professional Development Opportunities
Physical Requirements:
*Conservation Legacy is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals and will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to perform essential functions. Some positions may require periodic overnight travel, non\-traditional hours, ability to move across varied terrain, use program\-specific tools and a range of technology on an infrequent or frequent basis. Exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects.Ability to safely drive an organizational vehicle may also be required for some positions. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.*
Time Requirements:
Orientation and Training:
Benefits:
Evaluation and Reporting:
As an AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate, performance will be evaluated on whether the Summer Associate has completed the required number of hours, whether the Summer Associate has satisfactorily completed assignments, and if the Summer Associate has met other performance criteria that were clearly communicated at the beginning of the term of service.
Reporting requirements include, but are not limited to, bi\-weekly timesheets and accomplishment tracking.
Supervisor Name and Contact Information:
Erin Adams
eadams@conservationlegacy.org
330 Harper Park Drive
Beckley, WV 25801
(304\) 860\-0578
Host Organization Contact:**
Amanda Hammons
amanda@beckleydaycenter.org
(302\) 632\-0905
Conservation Legacy is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodations due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.