Service
Become a Member
Serve at a nonprofit in Indianapolis through the Interfaith Enrichment Corps, the Center for Interfaith Cooperation’s AmeriCorps program. Learn and connect with cultural services, faith communities, and community resources along with a cohort of service members. Members build quality interfaith relationships that explore community solutions in an asset-based approach. Specific service activities vary per site.
This program is available to all, without regard to race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, political affiliation, or, in most instances, religion.
Service Description
Authentic community-building efforts will connect members with faith groups to provide the support that enriches time, energy, tools, and capacity of volunteers and leaders. Willingness to reach across barriers of cultural and religious differences, coupled with an approach that supports existing efforts will enhance the incredible assets of our communities.
Members will be trained to discuss, consider, and communicate key issues that our sites and partners work with, including:
- Effective nonprofit best practices such as event planning and volunteer management.
- Religious literacy and ability to navigate the sensitivities and assets of various faith groups.
- The unique assets of and barriers faced by immigrants and refugees
- Mental health statistics, connecting resources and addressing stigma
- Socioeconomic disparities and implicit bias
- Other resource assets for referral and connection in the network of Indianapolis community organizations
Members won’t need to become experts on all these topics. Rather, through the key activity of building relationships, members will listen, learn, understand the goals of that community, and employ supportive problem-solving skills:
- What do community leaders, clergy, volunteers see for the future of their community/congregation?
- In what ways are they serving that they would like to continue – or would like more people to be involved in?
- By learning from the community, we can intuitively support their efforts without adding to their plates.
Member Duties
- Pursue interfaith understanding, cultural connection, and community vitality through service.
- Serve with a team of other members in a year of nonprofit networking and community-based learning out of Center for Interfaith Cooperation and partner sites around Central Indiana.
- Build authentic professional relationships with immigrants, faith groups, and service providers by facilitating and engaging in honest and sensitive conversations.
- Learn and use nonprofit best practices to support site organizations and community training opportunities.
- Cultivate a working understanding of root causes of community needs including mental health stigma, implicit bias, resource disparity, social isolation.
- Identify and pursue training that leverages local experts and professionals for the benefit of your site and the AmeriCorps team.
Skills
- Conflict Resolution
- Community Organization
- Communications
- Leadership
- Public Health
- Social Services
- Computers/Technology
Program Benefits
- Living Allowance
- Training
- Education award upon successful completion of service
Terms
- Car recommended
- Service is compatible with work during off-hours
- Service is compatible with attendance at school during off-hours
How to Apply
To apply, submit a pre-application here. You will receive an email confirmation within 72 hours with instructions to schedule your screening call. Once screened, candidates will be invited to submit an official application as soon as the opportunity is live in the AmeriCorps Portal and interview with service sites. Interested candidates can speed the selection process by creating an account and profile in the portal.
For more information, contact Aimee Formo at aimee@indycic.org.
Host a Member
Center for Interfaith Cooperation trains and places AmeriCorps members in partner congregations and organizations interested in building a strong, resourced interfaith community.
Service Site Duties
Service sites commit to providing direct supervision to members, a clear written description of goals and duties for members, a designated desk space, and member candidate referrals.
Benefits to Service Sites
An AmeriCorps member at your congregation or organization will build your capacity to (a) collaborate with religious communities, (b) cultivate interfaith understanding and cultural relevance, and (c) enhance and augment mission services in a sustainable fashion.
Members commit to 1700 hours of service and training, with CIC providing the majority of professional development opportunities needed to support success.
Members do not replace staff or volunteers and instead take on a unique role in an organization, engaging in service activities such as volunteer recruitment and support, community collaboration, mental health stigma reduction, staff/volunteer training, cultural connections, event planning, and other community-oriented activities.
Cost Share
Cost sharing for the 2021-22 program is as follows:
$9000 toward program funding for each full-year (September-August) member hosted
$1900 toward member health insurance coverage (if enrolled – members covered via another policy may waive AmeriCorps coverage)
Timeline
The IEC service year runs from September – August.
15 June: Service Descriptions due to CIC
June-July: Sites interview candidates following a screening by CIC
15 August: placements finalized, MOUs due to CIC; Member background check process begins
16 August: Site Supervisor Orientation
7-9 September: Member Orientation
10 September: Site Orientation Day; Member agreements due
13 September: First Day of Service
October: Cost share invoices distributed
February: Service Site Compliance Visits
How to host a member
Faith communities and organizations should contact Aimee Formo at aimee@centerforinterfaithcooperation.org to express interest and discuss placement.
Engage with the IEC
CIC welcomes board members, volunteers, and partners to join us for select training activities, where space permits. We are also pleased to welcome community organizations to present on local resources, non-profit skills, or service opportunities in our bi-weekly enrichment sessions.
2021-22 Members and Sites
- David Love - Center for Interfaith Cooperation
- Ashley Mager - Mothers on the Rise
- Nina Porter - Mothers on the Rise
- George Batcheldor - Cancer Support Community
- Robert Sanchez - King of Glory Lutheran Church
David has always held helping people in the forefront of his mind, no matter which career path he was on. Originally from Fort Wayne, he moved to Indianapolis 10 years ago. This is David’s second AmeriCorps term, this time serving at the CIC. His main foci are projects that are part of the CIC’s partnerships with NAMI and Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.
Ashley Mager is a passionate woman devoted to serving those most vulnerable in our society. She is from Fishers, Indiana and a second-year graduate student at the Fairbanks School of Public Health working towards her Master’s in Public Health. With a concentration in Social and Behavioral Sciences, she focuses on health disparities and improving health outcomes. She is currently an AmeriCorps Member working as the Project Administrator for Mothers on the Rise, a reentry program. Mothers on the Rise is a program for pregnant women being released from the Indiana Women’s Prison, where she can demonstrate her education and experience within the field of public health. After graduation, Ashley plans to work for a program designed to address maternal and child health disparities, such as Mothers on the Rise.
Nina Porter lives in Indianapolis and is a Maternal and Child Health Leader serving with Mothers On The Rise site. They are creating a system of care for mothers and babies coming out of incarceration. She hopes to learn and serve more this year than ever before.
George Batcheldor is a reader, a writer, and a lover of all religion and mythology. He grew up in Bardstown, Kentucky, attended college at Western Kentucky University with a major in Religious Studies, and now lives in Columbus, Indiana with his partner, two cats, and five pet rats. George is serving at Cancer Support Community to provide service to cancer patients and families effected by cancer through remote programming, porch drop-offs, and home visits. George was raised in the Roman Catholic tradition and has worked in parish administration in the Archdiocese of Louisville.
Robert is 19 years old and was born in Indianapolis. Robert is serving at King of Glory Lutheran Church in their outreach ministry to help the community at Nora Elementary School. When not working with AmeriCorps Robert can be found working at LaserFlash, a locally owned laser tag facility, or planning Dungeons & Dragons games.
Enrichment Schedule
Details of open upcoming training opportunities appear below. Contact Aimee Formo to join a session as a guest, or follow the volunteer links.
2021-22 Enrichment
Our AmeriCorps members are tasked with building connections between faith communities, people in need, and resource providers. In order to support them in their service, we provide training opportunities that spotlight central Indiana nonprofits, highlight the importance of cultural and religious sensitivity, and cover a wide range of skills and topics from soft skills and an ethic of service to nonprofit management, volunteer coordination, safety, and distaster planning.
For skill shares, the goal is not to teach everything someone might need to know about the topic in 60 minutes, but rather to give an overview of some important elements, share tips for getting started, favorite tools, books, etc. If you have a skill or topic you’d like to share with our cohort, you can volunteer here.