The Leaders for An Equitable Tomorrow (LET) program, consisting of 10 eager and bright high school students, 5 from Woburn and 5 from Winchester are working on a future project surrounding youth mental health and social justice, all while learning about these topics and educating themselves.

They have interviewed community members to perform a needs assessment on the specific needs we would like to address in these communities.

The summer program has concluded as school has started its new year, however several of the program members plan to continue to go to monthly meetings to work on next year’s project. They have been working on this since the beginning of July 8th, 2021 and plan on continuing the program until June 2022!

You may be wondering why these students are working on this project and that’s because they believe that racism is affecting the youth’s mental health and want to help! The interconnection of youth mental health and racism is what they have seen and understand. What the students came up with for a problem statement was “Racism and a lack of diversity in communities can lead to negative self-image, isolation, and a sense of inferiority in youth.” The project will hopefully make this problem statement lessen!

Program participants will also be doing future projects of their own through Social Capital Inc. (SCI) and the Network for Social Justice (NFSJ).

SCI is launching a new program with ThinkGive from Concord, MA! ThinkGive is an action-based social emotional learning program that offers programming to enrich social emotional learning in schools throughout the Commonwealth. Connecting through a Racial Equity Symposium, SCI and ThinkGive quickly realized that coming together would be a great opportunity for a new program, Allyship Month.

The SCI AmeriCorps program supports youth success by increasing volunteerism and providing leadership training and community service opportunities for youth. The goal of the SCI AmeriCorps program is to connect youth with relationships, experiences, and resources they need to succeed. Members implement volunteer outreach and capacity building activities that increase volunteer participation, and provide leadership training and community service opportunities for youth. Since 2007, SCI AmeriCorps members have served at various host sites, who are aligned with the mission of Social Capital Inc. 

Members not only serve with other host sites, but they can serve with SCI as well! SCI is currently looking for a Volunteer Outreach Coordinator (VOC) to serve with SCI Woburn. This member will be under the direction of the SCI Woburn Program Manager. 

Member responsibilities include:

• Lead ongoing management of the SCI Engaging Volunteers (SERV) network, and lead coordination of annual SCI volunteer initiatives;
• Lead ongoing coordination of Woburn Parent Network (WPN) program and resource offerings;
• Participate in the organization and execution of annual SCI-led community events including: Allyship Month, AAPI Month, Black History Month, Juneteenth, and WorldFest;
• Participate in planning and management of SCI Woburn communications consisting of: sciwoburn.org website management, @sciwoburn social media platforms, and the monthly community e-newsletter. 

Requirements:

• Able to commit to Full-Time service in local communities with diverse residents 
• Effective communication skills to conduct community outreach through marketing strategies and civic engagement
• Strong work ethic, collaboration, and time management skills 
• Availability to serve in-person for some or all service activities 

Benefits: 

• Receive a Taxable Stipend up to $18,000/year, paid bi-weekly 
• Earn a Federal Education Award worth $6000+ on successful completion of service 
• Progressional development trainings 
• Eligible for Free Health Care at a no cost premium 
• Can receive Student Loan Forbearance during active service 

To apply please send a resume and cover letter to americorps@socialcapitalinc.org (Attn: Philip Gordon, Deputy Director) 

Or, submit an application through the MyAmeriCorps portal (search “Volunteer Outreach Coordinator” in the Program Name Field)