Job Opportunities

LISC AmeriCorps Service Description
Full-Time Member Position
January 16, 2014 – November 15, 2014

Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Somerville Community Corporation are seeking a full-time AmeriCorps member to serve as Career and Employment Services Coach. 

Somerville Community Corporation (SCC) is a membership organization that provides leadership for sustaining the City of Somerville as a vibrant, diverse and tolerant community. We offer services and lead community organizing that supports low- and moderate-income Somerville residents in their efforts to achieve economic sustainability and increase civic participation. Through these efforts, the residents of Somerville are better ableto achieve economic stability and participate in civic life. SCC’s Community Asset Building Department, which will host the Career and Employment Services Coach for this AmeriCorps term, offers six different program areas for SCC members: Financial Education, Career and Employment Services, Income Maximization, First-Time Homebuyer Education, Individual Development Accounts, and Foreclosure Prevention. The AmeriCorps Member’s activities will be within the scope of the Career and Employment Services program area.

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is dedicated to helping community residents transform distressed neighborhoods into healthy and sustainable communities of choice and opportunity — good places to work, do business and raise children.  LISC combines corporate, government and philanthropic resources to help community-based organizations revitalize underserved neighborhoods. This strategy extends to the LISC AmeriCorps program where we support placing AmeriCorps Members with local non-profit partners. Members assist in efforts to revitalize underserved neighborhoods across America and create vibrant places for people to live, work, and play. 

The AmeriCorps member will focus on the provision of Career Counseling services and will connect with SCC residents and partner constituents to share information on our programs.

The member selected to serve in this capacity will be responsible for:

  • Providing one-on-one career and job coaching, job referral, and job placement services to clients served through the SCC/The Career Place (TCP) partnership.  This will include:
    • performing job and career-related client coaching and Comprehensive Intakes with own clients ;
    • providing job and career-related one-on-one coaching to own clients to create a goal-oriented employment attainment plan; resume preparation and revision; job searches, and tracking clients’ job placements and retention; and
    • accompanying and assisting clients during meetings with TCP staff to facilitate the completion of steps outlined during said meetings (revise resume, follow up on job applications, etc).
  • Identifying and recruiting community residents to participate in SCC’s Career Counseling and Employment and other programs, including Career Counseling Workshops on a variety of career and job-related topics. To this end, the AmeriCorps member will visit SCC properties and groups at our various community partners.

Members will also be expected to fully participate as part of the LISC AmeriCorps team.  LISC sponsored activities including:

  • Attend a national leadership conference tentatively scheduled for March 2014. This conference is coordinated by the national LISC AmeriCorps staff; 
  • Attend all locally sponsored monthly meetings;
  • Participate in a minimum of six nationally sponsored webinars;
  • Engage in every-other-month affinity groups to discuss topics related to the member’s service; and, 
  • Actively participating in two locally identified and team coordinated service projects (one for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service and one for National AmeriCorps Week).

This is an AmeriCorps position, neither LISC nor Somerville Community Corporation will allow the member to engage in activities that are considered prohibited under the terms of the grant while serving as a LISC AmeriCorps member.

Desired Skills

  • Desire and ability to work with a diverse group of people, particularly those living in low-income distressed neighborhoods
  • Ability to work independently and in a team environment
  • Computer skills, data entry, Microsoft Office Suite, especially Word and Excel a plus
  • Good written and oral communication skills
  • Ability to work a flexible schedule (some night and weekends may be required)
  • Ability to communicate fluently in English/Spanish is a must for this position, as many of our clients are Spanish speakers.

Program Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible to participate as a LISC AmeriCorps member the candidate must meet all eligibility requirements to serve as a National Service participant including but not limited to:

  • Possess a high school degree, GED certificate or agree to achieve GED during the term of service
  • Be at least 18 years of age (note there is no age limit)
  • Have status as a US citizen or possess permanent resident status
  • Be eligible to earn an education award and not be barred from performing a term of service
  • Be available to serve for a full 10 month period of time and within that time period complete a minimum of 1700 hours of service
  • Be available for service from January 16, 2014  through November 15, 2014

Program Benefits
Upon successful completion of the term of service, the member will be eligible for a $5,550 education award to pay off existing, eligible student loans or return to school. The position pays a total stipend of $15,000.  The stipend is paid in 20 equal checks twice a month.  Direct deposit is available and highly encouraged.  A health care benefit is available for the participant only (dependents are not eligible).  There is no stipend deduction for participation. For members with children under the age of 13, there is a child care subsidy benefit available which is dependent on the participant meeting all eligibility requirements.  This benefit is administered by a contracted provider via the Corporation for National and Community Service.   

Resumes should be submitted ASAP to:
Somerville Community Corporation attn: Thais DeMarco  at tdemarco@somervillecdc.org
And LISC attn:  Marizabel  Benoit at  Mbenoit@lisc.org
Resumes received after Friday, January 10 may not be considered.
LISC & Somerville Community Corporation promote equal opportunity in selecting AmeriCorps members.
We are committed to diversity and inclusion in the selection process.

Internships and Fellowships

Through internships and fellowships, we are able to expose interns and fellows to working in a non-profit environment. Additionally, we are able to fulfill our internal need for additional workforce resources. Interns and fellows contribute greatly to our work here at Somerville Community Corporation (SCC) by adding to the breadth and depth of what we are able to accomplish as an organization.

SCC has hosted interns from high schools and higher education institutions including Tufts University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and others. We accept interns at the graduate and undergraduate level. We have partnered with year-long fellows from the Jewish Organizing Initiative, New Sector Alliance and LISC AmeriCorps.

SCC staff members work closely with interns and fellows on well-defined projects. Recent projects have included:

  • Surveying land usage in Somerville
  • Designing and conducting the East Somerville Community Mapping Project
  • Making recommendations for establishing our IDA program
  • Studying community food security in East Somerville

Generating a property acquisition strategy as part of SCC's campaign to combat displacement of low-income people along the path of the MBTA Green Line extension.

Be sure to check out some of the work completed by SCC interns and fellows.

If you would like to apply for an internship or fellowship with us, please contact Meridith Levy, Director of Community Power & Resources, at (617) 776-5931, ext. 242 or Jeremy Wilkening, Director of Real Estate Development, at (617) 776-5931, ext. 227.