AmeriCorps

“When I heard about the Manchester Excels program, it so perfectly aligned with my desire for community engagement and working towards a teaching certificate and education degree that I applied to it within an hour of hearing about it.”

Manchester Excels AmeriCorps members are co-enrolled in the Master’s in Secondary Education and initial licensure program in partnership with Southern New Hampshire University. Manchester Excels members engage directly with middle and high school students in the greater Manchester area, serving for 14 months while taking classes on campus to become a certified New Hampshire teacher. A dedicated faculty advisor and three professors at SNHU, along with experienced on-site teachers, provide expertise, support, and real-time guidance throughout the program. This program prepares members to confidently become certified classroom teachers in middle and/or high schools in one of five content areas. In addition to earning their master’s degree, members earn a certificate in trans-disciplinary competencies including STEM Education Badges.

Cohorts start every June and conclude in July of the following year. This includes serving full-time as a clinical teaching assistant in a local classroom September–June. The cost of tuition at SNHU is supported by the AmeriCorps Segal Education Award as well as a bi-weekly stipend from AmeriCorps.

Interested candidates should submit an application to the Manchester Excels program through Southern New Hampshire University. To learn more from our staff, please contact Jen Craven at Jenifer.Craven@goodwillnne.org or (603) 703-1811.

Through the Granite State Education Corps, Goodwill NNE offers 300- and 450-hour direct service positions in partnership with Upward Bound, summer academic, and college access programs in New Hampshire. Members in this program receive an education award upon completion of their term.

GoodwillNNE Public Health AmeriCorps members gain experiences in the public health field, they are given CDC-suggested training, and may attain certification as a Community Health Worker. These trainings and experiences will build a strong foundation for members who want a career in public health. The overall goal is to improve the public health workforce in the long-run, while serving the community.

To express interest in becoming a member or hosting a member please complete an interest survey or contact Program Coordinator, Taylor Carter at taylor.carter@goodwillnne.org or (603) 860-8348.

The diverse work of our AmeriCorps VISTA members contributes to the capacity-building and organizational-development goals of local agencies, including schools and nonprofits, providing invaluable boosts to the wellbeing of communities. Our VISTA Members work to reduce poverty at these organizations through indirect service such as creating new programs, assisting with community assessments, fundraising and grant writing, communications work, increasing social media presence, and recruiting and managing volunteers among other projects. The organizations we partner with focus on important community issues including but not limited to affordable housing, support for seniors, food security, assisting New Americans, educational support, and accessible transportation. 

In 2023, our VISTA members provided over 3,000 hours of service, working to recruit over 1,405 new volunteers, leveraging over 1.1 million dollars for host-site organizations, and creating 243 new and enhanced systems and business processes. The positive impact VISTA members offer their local communities is remarkable and continues to build year after year.  

To learn more about becoming a Goodwill VISTA Partnership host site or member, please contact Scott Dupee at Scott.Dupee@goodwillnne.org or (603) 229-7235.

Goodwill Youth Development programs aim to introduce stability and positive relationships into the lives of youth by pairing them with AmeriCorps members. These mentors regularly meet one-on-one or in small groups with a caseload of ten students, implementing a personalized approach, and moving away from a “one size fits all” program. Members utilize their strengths through an immersive learning experience, social and emotional development, and college and career readiness programming. This approach aims to increase youths’ confidence, sense of contribution, self-management, resilience, and social and emotional skills—in essence, serving the whole child.

Members work with community partner agencies to develop and carry out localized evidence-based interventions, directly serving youth while helping the program grow. Granite State Education Corps youth development members are placed at host site organizations across NH, from the Seacoast’s Portsmouth, Stratham, and Dover to Franconia, by the lakes and mountains, to the southern cities of Concord, Manchester, and Nashua. Maine Public Health AmeriCorps Youth Development members serve diverse populations of students, including New American multilingual multicultural youth, migrant farm-working populations, or members of the Wabanaki tribe. From Greater Portland, in the Lakes and Mountain and Maine Highlands regions, and up the MidCoast as far as to the Downeast Region, members strive to impact all young Mainers.

To learn more about becoming a Goodwill Youth Development program host site or member, please contact Jen Craven at Jenifer.Craven@goodwillnne.org or (603) 703-1811.