Open AmeriCorps Positions

Host Site: Food and Health Network of South Central New York

One position available

Flexible schedule: 675 hours must be completed within one year. A typical schedule is around 9 months at 20 hours/week (ex/ November 2024 – August 2025) 

The Public Health AmeriCorps (PHA) Produce Prescription member is a part of the Food and Health Network’s regional Produce Prescription program that works with healthcare providers throughout the Southern Tier to create better health outcomes for patients diagnosed with diet-related chronic health disease and living with food insecurity. The PHA Produce Prescription member will work as part of a team with the Food as Medicine Coordinator to develop, implement, grow, and evaluate the program to bring healthy, local food to patients. Members will work with staff, healthcare providers, patients, vendors, and community partners to expand access to fresh fruits and vegetables for members of the community through Produce Prescription.

This position requires a valid driver’s license and a personal vehicle. 

Program goals:

• Increase access to fruits and vegetables for patients living with diet-related chronic health disease;
• Cultivate patient understanding between the correlations of food and health;
• Develop program champions among patients, healthcare providers and vendors;
• Build capacity and sustainability through improved coordination, community outreach, patient involvement, and partner recruitment and management.

The responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Develop and maintain relationships with Produce Rx partners; including healthcare providers, patients, farmers, and community organizations; 
2. Coordinate enrollment fairs with healthcare providers and appropriate community partners;
3. Organize volunteer efforts in preparation of program materials, including vouchers and kitchen incentives;
4. Provide general patient support navigating the PRx program including responding to patient inquiries and assisting with program enrollment;
5. Assist healthcare providers in implementing the program by distributing materials, providing updates, and entering patient survey data as needed;
6. Collaborate with Food as Medicine Coordinator to design and disseminate educational materials;
7. Research best practices and patient-centered approaches to Produce Rx, creating an annotated bibliography for reference in future grants to the extent permitted (10% of total time in service, no work on federal funding applications, etc. by the AmeriCorps National Service Program and with the specific guidance of the Rural Health Network).
8. Attend regular trainings; 
9. Deliver produce boxes to patients when needed;
10.  Regularly record programming data for evaluation and reporting.
    

Qualifications: 

• Experience with communications, community organizing, studying food systems or human services, or working in public health;
• Ability to read and understand a recipe, and experience in a kitchen (home or commercial) is desirable but not required; 
• Comfort learning and communicating new ideas;
• Interest in working within rural communities; 
• Connection to and/or knowledge of rural communities, preferred; 
• Commitment to public service;
• Strong public speaking, writing, interpersonal, and organizational skills
• Skilled in conducting research and compiling scholarly citations.
• Understanding of our mission and scope.

Host Site: Truth Pharm

One position available

Flexible schedule: 900 hours must be completed within one full year of service starting in Oct’24 or later.
(Ex/ November 2024 – October 2025, 900 hours, 20 hours/week)

The Public Health AmeriCorps Community Health Specialist works on special projects that involve overdose reversal training, Narcan distribution, and navigation to services in the community and at the Truth Pharm office.

This position recommends a personal vehicle and a driver’s license. 

PHA Position Details:

• Perform outreach for Narcan distribution projects
• Provide outreach in communities via tabling events and other means to provide overdose
  reversal training and Narcan distribution
• Provide resource securing and navigation services to community members to assist them with
  needs such as basic needs, harm reduction strategies, treatment resources and overdose
  reversal education and supplies
• Assist with data collection and reporting
• Assist with assembling Narcan kits and works with community member volunteers to utilize
  their assistance for various overdose prevention strategies
• Provide community Narcan and other trainings pertaining to overdose prevention
• Orchestrate and manage materials related to tabling, outreach, training, overdose prevention
  and Narcan distribution
• Assist with social media campaigns related to overdose prevention
• Assist with projects and tasks related to overdose prevention
• Assist community members with connections to other area resources both for substance use
  and harm reduction services both in our office and in the community

Host Site: Greater Good Grocery (a program of Broome County Council of Churches)

Two positions available

Flexible schedule: 900 hours must be completed within one full year of service starting in Nov’24 or later.

The Greater Good Grocery Bus is a mobile market that sells fresh, healthy, and affordable food in different communities across Broome County. The Public Health AmeriCorps Greater Good Grocery Bus Community Coordinator is responsible for ensuring safe, timely, and efficient operations at each site as assigned by their daily route and schedule. Daily responsibilities include loading/unloading, restocking the bus, driving the van used for excess stock, providing exemplary customer service, handling money and other transactions with the point-of-sale system, and data collection.

The Greater Good Grocery Bus travels to different market sites across Broome County to provide healthy food access to both urban as well as rural communities. The Greater Good Grocery Bus operates all-year-round in rain or shine conditions with safety precautions. A successful candidate will have a servant leadership mentality, be able to thrive in a fast-paced environment and help meet the customers’ needs.

This position requires a driver’s license and the ability to lift 25 lbs. 

PHA Position Details:

• Stock and price products on bus.
• Provide customer service: proces transactions, bag groceries, assistcustomer with bags.
• Educate SNAP customers about the programs available to increase their access to affordable healthy foods.
• Provide local program information on how to access food or other services to customers who are struggling with food insecurity.
• Follow assigned schedule and drive the van to sites as needed.
• Responsible for recording all sales in the point-of-sale system.
• Assist in maintaining accurate records of each site i.e. people served, items sold, profits, etc.
• Keep Greater Good Grocery Bus clean and organized.
• Stock the Greater Good Grocery Bus at the beginning and end of each shift.
• Conduct regular inventories of products throughout the shift schedule and restocks items as needed.
• Represent The Council and AmeriCorps in a professional manner at all times when interfacing with customers, donors, volunteers and/or constituent providers.

Host Site: VINES

One position available

March 2025 – November 2025, 675 hours total, 20 hours/week

The Rural Health Service Corps (RHSC) Community Garden Assistant will assist with the development, maintenance, and expansion of community garden operations, which will include the initiation of the community composting program and systematic soil testing. Furthermore, they will help implement Green Thumb Educational Workshops. The member’s service will be key to advancing the goals of both VINES and the Rural Health Service Corps program of combating food insecurity by educating program participants on how to plant, care for, and harvest fresh fruits and vegetables in VINES’ network of approximately 20+ community gardens. The Community Garden Assistant will help build relationships with community gardeners and site coordinators to ensure that community members are receiving the information and materials they need to grow their own food and make changes in their health.

 This position requires a driver’s license.

PHA Position Details:

• Assist with logistics and distribution of supplies, tools and materials to and from VINES’ 20+ community garden sites.
• Assist with managing volunteers through garden improvement projects and maintenance on volunteer days.
• Assist with data collection and entry regarding community garden needs and impacts.
• Conduct outreach including but not limited to tabling, distributing flyers, and door to door outreach to engage community members in all of VINES’ programs;
• Engage and educate volunteers and supervise volunteer work with Farm Share, Green Thumb Workshops, Soil Testing, the Community Meal and other areas as needed;
• Assist in the coordination of Green Thumb workshop series which provides educational events for the public on the topics such as raised bed gardening, home composting, food preservation, and healthy cooking. This may include but isn’t limited to, identifying and communicating with instructors, being VINES’ representative at workshops, attending and assisting with instruction of workshops.
• Assist the Community Garden Manager with creating educational materials for community garden members;
• Assist in the collection of soil samples for both Community Gardens and Build-A-Garden (residential) program.
• Occasionally drive van for distribution of Farm Share vegetable boxes.
• Assist with running community meal on the 5th Tuesdays of the month (~3 times per year) at the United Presbyterian Church;
• Document, report on and evaluate programs/progress;
• Assist in resource development to support VINES activities to the extent permitted (10% of total time in service, no work on federal funding applications, etc. by the AmeriCorps National Service Program and with the specific guidance of the Rural Health Network).

Host Site: VINES

One position available

March 2025 – November 2025, 675 hours total, 20 hours/week

The Rural Health Service Corps (RHSC) Farm Share Program Assistant will assist the Farm Share Program Manager with the implementation of the Farm Share Program. This includes coordinating drop-off and pick-up times for shares from local farmers, distribution of shares to residents, and coordination of nutrition and cooking demonstrations at distribution sites. The Farm Share Program Assistant will also focus on the development and expansion of new and existing educational materials and work directly with members to understand how to identify, store, and prepare produce. The Farm Share Program Assistant will increase the number of individuals receiving support, services, education, and/or referrals to alleviate long-term hunger. The Farm Share Program Assistant will also focus on volunteer recruitment and retention

 This position requires a driver’s license.

PHA Position Details:

• Assist with planning and implementation for VINES Farm Share Program;
• Input data into Farm Share Database on customer payments and other information from weekly pickups;
• Utilize Farm Share Database to create reports and extract other data;
• Create educational materials including recipes and cooking and storage guides for VINES Farm Share members to further understand how to utilize their shares;
• Create weekly recipe samples, demonstrations and/or tastings for the VINES Farm Share members;
• Organize educational events for the public on topics such food storage, preservation, and healthful cooking;
• Ensure adequate membership in the program by conducting outreach efforts in target communities;
• Engage and educate volunteers and supervise volunteer work with the VINES Farm Share Program;
• Increase volunteer recruitment and retention;
• Actively promote the VINES Farm Share Program through the development of written and electronic products, brochures, press releases, reports, etc.
• Document, report on and evaluate programs/progress;
• Assist in resource development to support VINES activities to the extent permitted (10% of total time in service, no work on federal funding applications, etc. by the AmeriCorps National Service Program and with the specific guidance of the Rural Health Network).

Host Site: VINES

One position available

March 2025 – November 2025, 675 hours total, 20 hours/week

The Rural Health Service Corps (RHSC) Urban Farm Assistant will help the Urban Farm Manager to implement a successful growing season. This includes all aspects of agricultural production and the supervision of volunteers and youth employees in this endeavor. The member’s service will be key to advancing the goals of both VINES and the Rural Health Service Corps program of combating food insecurity by increasing convenient access to healthy foods, and educating program participants on the production of fresh foods. The Urban Farm and Youth Program Assistant will help with day-to-day farm tasks, and also help to increase the growing area under production at the Binghamton Urban Farm, developing new systems for efficiency of production, data management, volunteer tracking and retention, and attend farmer’s markets.

 This position requires a driver’s license.

PHA Position Details:

• Helping with all aspects of plant care, including seed starting, transplanting, watering, weeding, and harvest.
• Helping with other farm maintenance tasks including but not limited to, mowing, weed trimming, managing compost, setting up irrigation, mulching, and pruning.
• Helping the Farm Manager coordinate volunteer events and workdays including leading small groups of volunteers in farm tasks and leading tours of the Urban Farm.
• Helping the Farm Manager in managing, collecting, and inputting harvest, growing, and volunteer data.
• The Assistant will aid the Farm Manager in writing the weekly CSA newsletter, including taking photos and conducting youth and volunteer interviews.
• Helping with distribution of produce at farm stands and farmer’s markets.
• Assist the CGYPM and UFM with supervising youth employees participating in VINES’ Grow Binghamton summer youth employment program and developing educational lessons to teach youth about food production, nutrition, cooking, food insecurity, local food initiatives and the need for fresh, affordable food;
• Document, report on and evaluate programs/progress;
• Assist in resource development to support VINES activities to the extent permitted (10% of total time in service, no work on federal funding applications, etc. by the AmeriCorps National Service Program and with the specific guidance of the Rural Health Network).

Host Site: Northern Broome CARES 

One position available

January 2025 – October 2025, 675 hours total, 15-18 hours/week

We’re seeking a part-time Public Health AmeriCorps Rural Service Member to begin in January at Rural Health Network’s Northern Broome CARES program, which helps rural older adults age independently in their own homes. From an office in Whitney Point NY, the PHA member will directly support rural older adults in Northern Broome County with daily errands such as delivering food, assisting with shopping, and providing transportation in and around the local area. The PHA member will also have the opportunity to promote the services available in Northern Broome through community presentations.This position will require the member to be in Whitney Point, NY on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. A valid driver’s license is required. This 675-hour Public Health AmeriCorps position runs from Jan – Oct 2025, with a projected 15-18 hour/wk schedule.

 This position requires a driver’s license.

PHA Position Details:

• Shopping assistance & food delivery (gathering shopping lists and payment methods, going shopping, delivering items to client homes)
• Client transportation in and around Whitney Point using personal vehicle OR Getthere Van. Valid driver’s license required, experience transporting clients preferred.
• Program promotion at community presentations and tabling events

Host Site: Rural Health Institute of New York

One position available 

AmeriCorps Member, 20-35 hours weekly, 900 or 1200 hours term of service, starting Fall 2024 (flexible). Term of service will run 9-12 months, depending on the amount of hours served per week.

The Rural Health Institute of New York (RHI) works to measurably improve public health through facilitation of targeted community driven initiatives. Based in Cortland, New York, we are a public health institute committed to helping rural communities across the state improve population-level health through use of data, collaboration, and communication. RHI has expertise in three primary areas of expertise that contributes to our success: data and epidemiology, administrative and collaborative leadership, and design and health communications. These “core competencies” aren’t unrelated areas of expertise, but all feed into each other. We use data to drive our collaborative action planning and to inform our health communications campaigns with locally relevant information; we use our partnerships to identify key issues and disseminate evidence-based information to multiple audiences; we use our design and marketing skills to effectively share local data with relevant partners and help build data literacy.

For over 6 months, RHI has been facilitating the Cortland County Housing and Homelessness Coalition. This group is composed of relevant community representatives from agencies who provide housing and homeless services, as well as community members. One of its primary goals has been the creation of a daytime space for individuals experiencing homelessness to be doing the cold weather months.

PHA Position Details:

• Support with planning and setting up of the Grace Space (if onboarded before
  November)
• Assist with greeting individuals who arrive at the Grace Space. For new clients, provide
  a tour and share basic information about what is available.
• Plan and/or help implement pro-social and support programming in the space for
  individuals, including art & craft activities, recreational opportunities, substance use/
  mental health support meetings/ programs, and more. Solicit input for clients about what
  programs/ activities they would like to see.
• Engage with individuals using the space and support their needs, which could include
  engaging in conversations, making referrals to service providers, helping them use the
  resources in the space (laundry, showers, computer access, etc.).
• Acting as a liaison with Loaves & Fishes to accompany individuals to meals (in the
  upstairs of the same building), supporting Loaves & Fishes as needed
• Overseeing the water/ coffee station to ensure individuals using the space have access
  to warm beverages and snacks in between meals. Provide supervision in the kitchen, if
  and when someone would like access to warm their own food.
• Support promotions/ marketing of the Grace Space to increase usage and community
  support
• Support the maintenance of the Housing & Homelessness Coalition website
• Assist with community education/ training activities related to homelessness response
• Support research and/or data collection and other related activities tied to the use of the
  Grace Space
• Maintain and organize records