Volunteer Maryland 2020-2021 Applications, Volunteer Program Workshop Dates Now Available

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Volunteer Maryland, a unit of the Governor’s Office of Community Initiatives, today announced a schedule of Service Site Workshops and started accepting applications for the 2020–2021 service year. Any Maryland 501(c)(3) nonprofit, government, or school organization in need of volunteers is eligible to join Volunteer Maryland’s premier volunteer and national service network.

Volunteer Maryland seeks to expand geographically to serve more Maryland citizens and the environment. Nonprofits, government agencies, and schools interested in partnering with Volunteer Maryland to become a Service Site are encouraged to attend one of the workshops titled “Leverage Your Volunteer Program – Partner with Volunteer Maryland,” prior to applying for the program. Volunteer Maryland currently has AmeriCorps members at 17 service sites across Maryland. For the 2020-2021 service year, Maryland plans to place 20 AmeriCorps members to serve as Volunteer Coordinators for eleven months.

“Through the work of our AmeriCorps members, Volunteer Maryland’s capacity building activities help our partner Service Sites expand services, enhance the delivery of services, and generate additional resources that organizations might not otherwise have readily available to them,” said Nicki Fiocco, Executive Director of Volunteer Maryland. “Our AmeriCorps members, also known as Volunteer Coordinators, are diverse individuals who have unique backgrounds with regards to work and life experiences, and each year we are excited to see the innovative approaches our members introduce in their host Service Sites – integrating their background to help move the needle on addressing critical needs in Maryland communities.”

The workshops, which are free of charge and include lunch, are held to raise awareness of the benefits of Volunteer Maryland to help expand the program to cover more Maryland counties. Interested organizations are encouraged to register early, as seating is limited for each workshop. Organizations participating in the workshops will discover the benefits of partnering with Volunteer Maryland, undergo a volunteer program needs assessment, and network with fellow Maryland nonprofits. The Rural Maryland Council is also joining Volunteer Maryland at these events to provide information on their cash match grant for AmeriCorps members and support of other major projects in qualifying areas for organizations seeking funding in the coming year.

Volunteer Maryland Service Sites host Volunteer Maryland AmeriCorps members for an eleven-month term to serve as Volunteer Coordinators. Volunteer Coordinators serve full time and help address critical community needs including education, economic opportunity, environmental stewardship, disaster relief and services to veterans to assist in expanding the scale, reach, and efficiency of programs and organizations by leveraging resources from volunteerism.

In addition to the workshops, Volunteer Maryland will host a series of webinars to provide information to interested programs and organizations not available to attend the in-person sessions. Webinar dates can be found by visiting volunteer.maryland.gov/ServiceSites.

Interested organizations must submit their application to Volunteer Maryland by March 6, 2020.

Additional information on this year’s Volunteer Maryland workshops are provided below: