2021 Project Showcase ) AmeriCorps i Campus Compact A lookback over the COVID-19 Year * VISTA Assignment To help low-income homeowners remain safely and independently in their homes by supporting the coordination of needed home repairs and modifications. The VISTA will establish systems to manage the coordination of home repair projects, evaluate and enhance volunteer recruitment and management, and evaluate the effectiveness of Build United to continue improving services. What is Build United? ‘AmeriCorps Member VISTA Supervisor Fredric Eichelman uve wwe Jo Benjamin CVE UNITED ~ J ~~ Weare an organization that forms partnerships and collaborations in the interest of creating positive and measurable social change. Build United launched four years ago and has been growing and serving our community ever since. Build United was created in hopes to serve and advocate for those living under the ALICE threshold. Build United works under the advisement of a Build United advisory board that consists of contractors, subcontractors, human service agency staff members, and interested community members. The board reviews proposals for repair needs, assesses homes, and works with clients to ensure that needs are met in a timely manner. . Who do I serve? 2020 2020 2022 Virginia Income Division Rockingham/Harrisonburg Senior Survival Budget Seniors (65+) (BE Housing (95.34%) ll Heatheare (17.76%) HE Poverty(10%9 MALICE (29%) BE Poverty(12%) MALICE (3399 Wh Toxes (164%) Transportation (10.39%) Above ALICE (63% Above ALICE (55% BE Foca (8.92%) Other 9.13%) Tecnotoey(208%) Our Clients Build United serves clients who fall under three criterias. (1) Under the ALICE Threshold (2) Those above 55+ years of age (3) Owning a home. These clients are in desperate need of home repairs in order to remain in their homes safely andas long as possible. Why Need an AmeriCorps Member? AmeriCorps Member At the beginning, Build United filled its Volunteer Coordinator position with a Gradaute Student from James Madison University. As Build United expanded, realizaton that a full-time position was needed for Build United. Build United decided to recruit an AmeriCorps Member in hopes to evolve the program. In both non-profit and AmeriCorps Member work, are goal is to not be needed anymore and we will continue to work to our objective. What is Capacity Building? The primary focus of an AmeriCorps is capacity building. Capacity building is a set of activities that expand the scale, reach, efficiency, or effectiveness of programs and organizations. Activities may also leverage resources for programs and/or organizations (nationalservice.gov). As an AmeriCorps Member for Build United, | have been working on capacity building for the organizaiton and below are some examples. Capacity eB Collaboration Monthly meetings with organizations dealing with housing and homelessness. Building « Innovation Implementation of a modular ramp system. Meetings with organizations similar to Build United that were outside of Harrisonburg- Rockingham County. Tranferring data to UniteVirginia. Partnership with Critical Home Repair. eon Siaas x vx xX Build United v Cricatiomenepar = XY & Organization uturePlannin Creating paths for Build United to take in the future. Created "Google United" a system to organize data and search for data quickly. Removed unnessary data. Merge Created an Essentail Drive for new employees to understand how Build United functions. Google United ......... Partnership Colloboration Independance Challenges Challenges throughtout the year primarily consist of COVID-19. Build United was on pause due to a majority of clients being most at-risk to COVID-19. However, this challenge led to many new ideas being created for the future of Build United. a Recommendations 7 (1) Continuation of Build United collaboration with similar organizations (2) Build United's data to be fully online at one/two databases (3) Continuation of evolving the vision of Build United Results of Build United in Monetary Terms Ensuring our clients are able to live safely in their home pushes back the timeline or eliminates the need for an individual entering into assisted living or a nursing home. Keeping our clients at home as long as possible saves approximately $4,000 per month for our client. If you add conditional medical expenses resulting in poor flooring, broken rails, misaligned steps then our clients benefit even more. We spend on average $911 per client and our clients inreturn are able to save approxiatemely $4,000 per month. ® ~ $911 S$! $4,000 & $144,000 Effectiveness of Build United © cost (063%) © saving 99.37%) oa Charlie Eichelman bs Build United Volunteer Coordinator i lm hnttps://uwhr.org/Build-United powered by & PIKTOCHART