An estimated 250 unduplicated rsvp volunteers will serve in the geographic service area of spokane county

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) awarded a $468,069 Project Grant to the YMCA of the Inland Northwest under the AmeriCorps Seniors Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) to support volunteer engagement activities from April 1, 2021 through March 31, 2024.

Under the grant, an estimated 250 unduplicated RSVP volunteers will deliver services through four work plans focused on health, aging, education, and capacity building. In the area of health, volunteers will address food insecurity through meal delivery and food bank support, fall prevention education, and companionship services. For aging, volunteers will provide transportation assistance and telephone check-ins. In education, tutoring and mentoring activities will be offered. Capacity building volunteers will aid nonprofit organizations. Performance targets include 4,000 individuals reporting increased food security, 20 adopting healthy behaviors, 15 gaining social support, 25 students improving academic performance, and 8 organizations enhancing effectiveness.

Of this number, 150 volunteers will be placed in four work plans leading to outcomes in three focus areas, while 100 volunteers will serve in our other community priorities work plan. We are committed to addressing the cncs funding priorities of "addressing food insecurity," "aging in place - independent living," and "education - intergenerational programming." the primary focus area for rsvp of spokane county continues to be healthy futures, particularly in the obesity & food objective. Our first work plan will engage 20% of our volunteers will engage in nutrition/food support activities, including home meal delivery, congregate meal service, and food bank support, leading to increased food security for all demographics in our community. At the end of the three-year grant, at least 4000 individuals will report increased food security. Additionally, our second and third work plans will address the aging in place objective, reflecting our commitment to supporting older adults in our community to enable them to live independently with greater social support and improved health. These work plans together will engage 8% of our volunteers. Our education/training work plan will engage volunteers as coaches and facilitators for a matter of balance: managing concerns about falls (MOB) and fallstalk, two evidence-based falls prevention programs. MOB teaches participants in a classroom setting physical and mental exercises to improve their balance and coordination, while fallstalk involves facilitators working one-on-one with clients remotely in a tailored, supportive relationship. Although this work plan falls under the access to care objective, the MOB and fallstalk programs are almost exclusively designed for older adults. At the end of the three-year grant, at least 20 individuals will report a change in behavior or intent to change behavior to improve their health, such as making modifications to their environments or adding new exercises to their daily routines. The third healthy futures work plan is our companionship work plan. Volunteers will provide assistance with household chores, transportation to medical appointments, and regular telephone check-in calls to socially isolated seniors and adults with disabilities. At the end of the three-year grant, at least 15 individuals will report increased social support or capacity for independent living. Education, specifically in the K-12 success objective, will account for 12% of our volunteers. These volunteers will engage in a combination of in- and out-of-school tutoring and youth mentoring activities, leading to improved academic performance and improved academic engagement for spokane county students. At the end of the three-year grant, at least 25 students will demonstrate improved academic engagement or social-emotional skills. Our third focus area will be capacity building for nonprofit organizations, engaging 20% of our volunteers in providing a variety of indirect services to other organizations, enabling these organizations to operate more effectively and expand their program reach. Systems development will be the primary service activity, but the responsibilities of capacity building volunteers may extend to fundraising, volunteer management, and community outreach as needed. At the end of the three-year grant, at least eight organizations will report increased efficiency, effectiveness, and/or program reach. Finally, the remaining 40% of our volunteers will be allocated to other community priorities, which includes our long-standing project warm-up initiative to provide handmade clothing and accessories to low-income and homeless people in our community in order to keep them warm during cold weather. Project warm-up distributes annually over 10,000 items made by our volunteers. The cncs federal investment of $109,216 will be supplemented by a