IN THIS EDITIONAmeriCorps Update | August 19, 2020
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Important Deadlines & Events |
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Holding Space for DEI Discussions & Personal Growth Webinar. 3-4 PM CT. Register
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Updates from the Field. 1-2 PM CT. Register
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ASC Quarterly AmeriCorps Webinar Series: Service as a Solution? 1-2:30 PM CT. Register
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Final PER and End of Year AFR due for programs with a budget end date of July 31, 2020. Access the form
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Public Allies DEI Webinar Session 1: Understanding and using foundational principles of equity, inclusion and social justice. 2-3:30 PM CT. Register
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Final PER and End of Year AFR due for programs with a budget end date of August 31, 2020, including COVID-19 Planning Grants. Access the form
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| Introducing the Staff Transition Checklist
The OneStar AmeriCorps Texas team created a Grantee Staff Transition Checklist of important items to consider when a grantee experiences staff transition. These items are applicable to primary programmatic and fiscal staff but may also apply to other staff involved with your grant. Use this tool as a way to help onboard any new staff on your AmeriCorps grant. If you have any questions about the checklist, please email your Program and Grants Officers.
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| AmeriCorps Texas Grantee Portal Updates
At this time, all operating grant contacts should have received an invitation to the AmeriCorps Texas Grantee Portal. If you have not yet received an e-mail with login instructions, please contact Kailee Selzer at kailee@onestarfoundation.org for assistance. Planning grant contacts will receive their user login invitations by September 1.
OneStar led two webinar trainings on the Grantee Portal in July for programmatic and fiscal staff. The only difference between the two sessions is that the fiscal training included instruction on how to submit a PER and a Budget Amendment. Download the slide deck from the training here.
Assistance and instructions can be found online in our Grantee Portal Support Hub, which we will continuously update as new functionalities are added. Please contact your Program or Grants Officer if you have further questions or concerns.
Access the AmeriCorps Texas Grantee Portal at:
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The following information or actions are currently available in the AmeriCorps Texas Grantee Portal.
- Overview of grant, and uploaded grant documents, including the Notice of Grant Award as they are executed
- Program Budget
- PER Submission. Only 2020-2021 PERs should be submitted in Salesforce. 2019-2020 PERs should be submitted in OnCorps.
- Authorized Representatives Update Requests
- Program Amendment Requests
The following information or available actions are coming soon. More training will be provided as these additional functions become live:
- Overview and status tracking of monitoring activities for the full program year
- Approved PARA documents Budget Amendment Submissions, including Budget Reallocation Requests and Deobligation
- AmeriCorps Progress Report Submission (first APR in the Grantee Portal will be the 2020-2021 Mid-Year APR)
- AmeriCorps Financial Report Submission (first AFR in the Grantee Portal will be the 2020-2021 Mid-Year AFR)
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| Request for Proposals: National Civilian Community Corps
AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) deploys teams of young adults to serve full-time on long-term direct service projects (6-13 weeks) that help strengthen local communities. Consider how your nonprofit or agency can benefit from the time and skills of these dedicated AmeriCorps members and apply now to host a team!
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| Report: Impact of COVID-19 on Texas Nonprofit Organizations
We are excited to share our new report highlighting the impact of COVID-19 on Texas nonprofits. In partnership with United Ways of Texas, we recently administered a statewide survey to better understand how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting 501(c)(3) organizations in Texas and the communities they serve. The Impact of COVID-19 on Texas Nonprofit Organizations includes the results of surveys of Texas nonprofits done across the state, highlights key themes regarding the impact of COVID-19 Texas nonprofits, and offers opportunities to strengthen the nonprofit sector—a key economic driver in our state.
Key Findings from the Statewide Survey:
- The majority of Texas nonprofits are providing direct support to those most impacted by the pandemic and are stepping up to do more. Over 70% of nonprofits have changed their operations or services so that they can more directly support the COVID-19 response.
- Nonprofits throughout the state have been severely affected by the pandemic; even those not directly responding to COVID-19 (e.g. arts and cultural organizations) are facing financial difficulties. 70% of survey respondents said that their budgets had been impacted or will likely be impacted by COVID-19’s strain on the economy. Additionally, 82% of nonprofits have canceled or plan to cancel revenue-generating programs or events, which will affect their financial prospects.
- The COVID-19 pandemic is crippling the sector’s ability to sustain an important workforce and provide critical services that all Texans depend on. Over 24% of respondents have reduced employee hours or instituted furloughs or lay-offs, and 19% have instituted a hiring freeze.
- Texas nonprofit organizations and the communities they serve need flexible financial resources right now.
In addition to survey results, the report provides ways that policymakers, philanthropy, and business leaders can ensure Texas nonprofits have the capacity, resources, and flexibility to best serve their communities now and well beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
To learn more about how you can join us in supporting the impact sector and resources for Texas nonprofits responding to COVID-19, go to txnonprofits.org.
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| Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Resource Corner
OneStar is furthering its commitment to being more intentional with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) work by sharing out a few resources in each AmeriCorps Update to help further our community’s learning and growth around how to create change in Texas.
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Recognizing Microaggressions and the Messages They Send
Whether intentional or unintentional, microaggressions can communicate negative, hostile, or derogatory messages to individuals from marginalized communities. Here is s a resource that helps individuals recognize when a microaggression occurs and the message that’s being conveyed.
Did You Really Just Say That?
In this article, the American Psychological Association describes how to respond to microaggressions specifically in three buckets whether you are the target, a bystander, or microaggressor.
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Session 1: Understanding and using foundational principles of equity, inclusion and social justice. | September 23, 2 PM CT
Session 2: Analyzing patterns in our individual work practices and using critical consciousness to build an AmeriCorps that works in the interest of everyone. | October 28, 2 PM CT
Session 3: Using collaborative approaches to strengthen the impact of AmeriCorps in local communities. | November 23, 2 PM CT
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| Launching the AmeriCorps Texas 2020-2021 Program Year
Texas communities are facing unique challenges this year that require locally-led solutions. AmeriCorps is uniquely positioned to address these issues by harnessing the power of service.
We are excited to launch a new program year with our 2020-2021 AmeriCorps Texas grantees! Download the full list of this year's programs and descriptions of how they will be leveraging national service to strengthen Texas communities in the months ahead.
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| Member Recuitment Resources
As you continue to recruit members for the upcoming program year, we want to share recordings from our recruitment webinar series last year. These webinars discuss best practices in recruiting and onboarding AmeriCorps members, how to connect with university students, and effective strategies to implement along the recruitment cycle - from converting leads to hires, hires to members, and members to engaged alums.
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| ASC Training & Technical Assistance Directory
Our partners at America’s Service Commissions have compiled a Training and Technical Assistance Directory as a resource for ASC members to learn about trainers and consultants who are both peer recommended and have demonstrated support for the state service commission network. This resource is useful to find trainers and consultants who are committed to our work and have experience working with the national service field.
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| OneStar Summer Webinar Series
The Training Needs Assessment from June 2020 provided us with valuable feedback on training and technical assistance needs from the portfolio. There are many unique challenges leading up to this unprecedented 2020-2021 program year. Links to the recordings and resources from our first two webinars below. More webinars may be added as we continue to track the needs and opportunities for this program year.
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Virtual Onboarding and Member Experience Best Practices
Join us for a conversation about best practices for virtual on-boarding and member experience. AmeriCorps Texas programs CitySquare, Equal Heart, and Communities in Schools Central Texas will share what strategies they implemented in these areas.
Challenges Facing Education Focused AmeriCorps Programs
In light of the challenges, questions, and concerns our education based programs are facing about programmatic operations due to COVID-19, OneStar will be facilitating an interactive conversation for programs to share ideas, best practices, challenges, and creative solutions in program design and operation.
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With the beginning of a new program year, we want to remind you of OneStar’s Pre-Enrollment resources to assist programs with the procedure for enrolling members in a timely manner. With these resources we hope to minimize the impact of these requirements and prevent any undue delays. We created a flowchart to give programs a visual of the entire process and a step-by-step guide including screenshots. Both can now be found on the Grantee Resources page.
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| RESOURCES & TRAINING
Grantee Resource Library + eNewsletter ArchiveLooking for helpful forms and templates? Miss a recent AmeriCorps Update eNewsletter? Make sure to check out OneStar’s online Grantee Resource Library on our website. You can now also find AmeriCorps Update eNewsletters from the past year archived here.
If someone at your organization needs to be added to the AmeriCorps Update distribution list and is not receiving them, you can now directly request to be added to OneStar's AmeriCorps Updates list by registering here.
2020-2021 Grantee Monthly Call Schedule
Recordings of previous Updates From the Field calls can be found here.
Recordings of previous Fiscal Update calls can be found here.
AmeriCorps Texas Grantee Portal
For technical assistance and instructions, please visit our AmeriCorps Texas Grantee Portal Support Hub, which we will continuously update as new functionalities are added. Please contact your Program or Grants Officer if you have further questions or concerns.
You must be an authorized user to access the Grantee Portal. A current authorized user on your grant can add additional users. If you need assistance, please contact Kailee Selzer, kailee@onestarfoundation.org.
Updating Program Contact Information If during the year, you have any changes, additions, or deletions to your program’s contacts, please update your Authorized Representative through the Authorized Rep Update button on your grant record in the AmeriCorps Texas Grantee Portal. As a reminder, OneStar requires the following roles to be designated and corresponding contact information to be on file:
- Legal Authorized Signatory
- Primary Program Contact
- Primary Fiscal Contact
- Secondary Contacts (Primary or Fiscal) – as applicable
- Pre-Award Contact or Grant Manager - as applicable
Please note that it is a grantee requirement to update this form within 10 working days of a change in your program’s key personnel assigned to your AmeriCorps project.
Reasonable Accomodation Request FormThe Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) may have funds available to help cover the costs of providing reasonable accommodations to AmeriCorps members. CNCS promotes inclusive service environments, where disability is valued as a part of the range of diversity that exists in the human condition, and persons with disabilities are welcomed and given every opportunity for full inclusion and participation in national service.
For additional questions about reasonable accommodations and/or reasonable accommodation reimbursement requests, please contact Betty Jo Schafer at bettyjo@onestarfoundation.org.
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