Van Buren Resilience Fellow

About the position   
Maine Service Fellows is a Maine Climate Corps Network program contributing to the goals of Maine Won’t Wait, the state's climate action plan. This position contributes to Maine's climate action goal of increasing community resilience increasing the amount of food produced locally for consumption by residents.

Position duties:  
The Maine Service Fellow will help the Town of Van Buren advance several critical climate action resiliency projects. Located in Aroostook County, Van Buren describes itself as the gateway to the St. John Valley and Canada. (Learn about the town at VanBurenMaine.com)

The goal of Van Buren’s Resiliency Project, supported by the Maine Service Fellow, is to strengthen community resilience through the expansion of the Community Garden Program and volunteer capacity building. The Fellow will assist in garden education, recruit and train volunteers, and establish partnerships with local schools and food banks to enhance food security. At least 20% of the Fellow's efforts will focus on developing a volunteer management system and creating training programs for local leaders. The Fellow will also assist in grant opportunities to secure funding for expanded garden infrastructure and other resiliency initiatives, ensuring long-term sustainability.

About Us:  
Maine Service Fellows is a statewide service program designed to help rural communities tackle their most critical needs, with a focus on building climate resilience. The program increases the opportunities for recent college graduates to devote a year of service, use their skills to make a difference, and strengthen civic engagement and community resilience through engaging community residents in volunteer-based solutions. Maine Service Fellows recruits individuals who completed a post-secondary degree with the last 5 years.

Minimum requirements:

• Must be at least 20 years of age.
• Within the last 5 years, completed a college degree (associates, bachelors, or graduate).
• Be eligible to work in the United States and pass a background check that includes a criminal history record check.
• Commit to devoting full-time effort to the assignment (1700 hours total over 43 weeks).
• Agree to live in the community impacted by the project.

Strong applicants will have:

• Knowledge, skills, and experience in the development and implementation of climate resilience solutions relevant to the project.
• Ability and comfort with working with people.
• Comfort with working independently and ability to be self-directed and take initiative.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills. 

Exceptional applicants will be bilingual (French and English). 

Compensation and benefits:

• Living allowance of approximately $28,000 per term (10 months)
• Educational award for student loans of ~$5,600
• Full health care coverage
• Paid time off 

Start Date: Early February, 2025

To apply for this or any other service assignment, complete the online application using this link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Q769SQJ 

Applicants will need to upload a cover letter, resume, and copy of the post-secondary degree completion (diploma) as part of the application process.

Applications reviewed on a rolling basis. 

For more information, contact Volunteer Maine at service.commission@maine.gov 

Maine Service Fellows welcomes applicants, participants, and partners of all backgrounds including diverse race, color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, age, ancestry, national origin, familial status or genetics. Reasonable accommodations are provided to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request.