As a member of a small team, you will be responsible for increasing the financial sustainability of the organization.
Service Activities
As the VISTA member at Community Connections, you will help with the development and delivery of support services for people with disabilities and seniors by working to improve and diversify Community Connections’ fundraising systems. Your duties will include: researching available grants and funding resources available for human service organizations; applying for grant funding; developing systems and infrastructure for implementing community events that raise awareness about our services and raise funds to support those services; creating marketing materials to launch a new legacy endowment fund; and improving donor management systems for maintaining contact with donors, tracking existing donor contributions and targeted outreach to new donors
Community Need Addressed
Community Connections is based in Ketchikan Alaska and serves people with disabilities, seniors and children in several other island communities in Southeast Alaska. Our small community is a friendly island town that is home for artists, outdoor enthusiasts, anglers, and a vibrant Alaska Native community. Wildlife is abundant in this cool, rainy climate. During the summers, average temperatures may vary from 46 to 70 degrees! Precipitation is always possible. Ketchikan is far from any larger city and accessible only by boat or plane. When Community Connections was founded in 1985, local resources for individuals with developmental disabilities were limited and parents were often forced to move or put their loved ones into institutional care.
Community Connections believes that person-centered and community-based services are the best path to success and satisfaction for individuals with developmental disabilities and anyone needing services to remain in their home community. Learn more about our organization at www.comconnections.org or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/comconnections. Due to funding cuts by the State of Alaska grant and Medicaid programs, many low-income people including people with disabilities and seniors have had services reduced, or have been thrown out of services entirely. In order to offset these cuts, Community Connections must diversify our funding streams. Diversified funding will help us to fill in the gaps in home and community-based services that the State no longer covers, and will allow us to maintain the level of service we currently provide to disadvantaged individuals in these remote Southeast Alaska communities
Position Outcomes
Increased capacity of the organization to serve clients.
Benefits
Childcare assistance if eligible, Education award upon successful completion of service, Health coverage, Living allowance, Non-competitive eligibility (federal jobs), Relocation allowance (if applicable), Student loan forbearance, Training
Competencies You Will Develop
Communication
Demonstrate sensitivity and empathy, Maintain open lines of communication with others, Speak clearly, in precise language and in a logical, organized and coherent manner, Write cleary and effectively
Creativity & Problem Solving
Communicate the problem to appropriate personnel
Teamwork
Derive consensus, Stay positive and outcome oriented
Decisions
Accepts responsibility, Identify and prioritize the key issues involved to facilitate the decision making process, Quickly respond with a back-up plan if a decision goes amiss
Tools
Carefully consider which tools or technological solutions are appropriate for a given job, Seek opportunities to improve knowledge of tools and technologies that may assist in streamlining work and improving productivity
Planning
Able to prioritize various competing tasks, Demonstrate the effective allocation of time and resources efficiently, Facilitate group planning
Service
Be pleasant, courteous, professional and respectful when dealing with internal and external customers or clients, Honor the privilege of being able to work with and for those being served, Provide personalized, prompt, and efficient service to meet the requirements, requests and needs of customers