Energy Communities AmeriCorps VISTA OSM Coalfield Dev. Y1

As energy opportunities expand, coal and power facility jobs are declining across the United States. This VISTA project will develop and advance programs that increase environmental awareness and stewardship, job training, employment pathways, and access to existing federal and community resources for low-income individuals living in energy transition communities.

Our Mission is to inspire the courage to grow, activating the creativity to innovate, and cultivating communities of opportunity in central Appalachia through 4 core capabilities: designing and scaling new programs in emerging sustainable sectors, incubating and Investing in well-paying employment social enterprises, facilitating personal, professional, and academic growth for people facing barriers to employment, and advancing, completing, and/or managing community-based revitalization projects. We are located in Huntington, WV but have offices and projects throughout southern West Virginia where we have trained over 3,000 people and leveraged over 250 megawatts of renewable energy in coal-impacted communities. The ecosystem for community-based organizations is fragile, and our work provides the much needed support to help local organizations build a foundation that perpetuates funding opportunities for their community! Wayne County is registered as an at-risk county by the Appalachian Regional Commission with thousands of jobs lost during the decline of the coal industry. The surrounding region has a 39% labor participation rate. This role will facilitate the deployment of just energy transition opportunities, capacity building at the hyper-local level, and grant writing for coal-impacted communities! This VISTA will work directly with our Capacity Team to identify hyper-local nonprofit and community organizations, establish goals and opportunities together, and directly invest into those organizations through funding, technical assistance, and capacity building to catalyze future resources.