Needs From: Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley

Background: Iowa Legal Aid seeks applicants to fill AmeriCorps member positions for its regional offices in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Iowa City, Mason City, Ottumwa, Sioux City and Waterloo, subject to funding availability. Iowa Legal Aid provides free, high quality legal education, advice and representation to low-income and elderly Iowans with civil legal problems that most dramatically affect poor and vulnerable Iowans.

 

Responsibilities: Individual AmeriCorps members will help with various projects that can include: helping seniors, veterans, and low-income Iowans get legal help; enhancing our unified client intake system; increasing outreach to underserved veteran, minority, disabled and immigrant groups; advancing legal self-help education and financial literacy, helping seniors and people with disabilities get services to live independently, recruiting and managing volunteers; improving volunteer management practices; enhancing Iowa Legal Aid’s website; marketing and public relations activities.

 

Qualifications: We seek applicants who communicate well with individuals and groups, both verbally and in writing. Applicants should also have some or all of the following:

Background working with people who are low-income, elderly, victims of domestic/sexual abuse, from other cultural and/or ethnic backgrounds, and/or have disabilities; Bi-lingual verbal and written communication skills, in one of the languages most used by low-income Iowans, including Spanish, Bosnian, Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, and/or ASL; Ability to use computers to organize information, update website, and/or perform research; College or community college; Background in journalism, marketing, teaching, and/or volunteer recruitment/management.

 

Opening/Closing Date: When filled, with members starting between September 1 - November 30, 2016.

 

Salary/Benefits: Full-time AmeriCorps members receive a modest living stipend ($12,530 for 11 month, full-time term), student loan forbearance, child care benefit, and can receive an education award of $5,775. Some half-time, quarter-time, and minimum-time positions will also be available.

 

Applications: Submit letter of application, including geographic preference, resume, and contact information for at least three professional references to:

 

Gail R. Klearman, Managing Attorney – Iowa Legal Aid

1111 9th Street Suite 230

Des Moines, IA 50314-2527

gklearman@iowalaw.org

515-243-1198 ext 1678 or 1-800-532-1503

TTY/Relay Iowa: 1-800-735-2942

 

Iowa Legal Aid is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Reasonable accommodations are available to qualified applicants upon request

Auxiliary aids and services are available in alternative formats

Iowa Legal Aid provides free, high quality legal education, advice and representation to low-income and elderly Iowans with civil legal problems. Disasters occur quite often in Iowa with devastating consequences to those living in its wake. Having an attorney available to address the critical legal needs of those affected by the disaster can make a huge difference in disaster survivors’ ability to recover from the disaster. Iowa Legal Aid is looking to recruit and train volunteer attorneys from around the state now before a disaster strikes. This would allow Iowa Legal Aid and volunteer attorneys to react immediately in the event of a disaster. If you would like a meaningful, dynamic, and professional volunteer opportunity, please consider volunteering with Iowa Legal Aid’s Coordinated Disaster Response Project.

 

COMMON DISASTER LEGAL PROBLEMS:

Disasters survivors face a wide variety of legal problems. Common areas that volunteers

may be needed are to:

Assist with applications for disaster benefits and appeals. Assist with housing issues for homeowners and tenants. Assist with home repair and contractor issues. Assist with buyouts, farm issues, bankruptcy, and tax.

Qualifications:

Volunteers must be currently able to practice law in the State of Iowa. Disasters are unpredictable and the need for attorneys will depend on when and where the disasters happen. Volunteers will need to be flexible and able to offer assistance on short-term notice in the event of a disaster.

Training and Support:

Volunteers will have access to: trainings (in-person and webinar) on issue spotting common legal problems and substantive law trainings prior to any disaster. free on-line resources through Iowa Legal Aid’s website, www.probono.net/iowa, and Iowa Legal Aid’s mobile app. co-counseling by Iowa Legal attorneys in person, by telephone, and by email. notifications of available trainings provided at no cost by Iowa Legal Aid Volunteers will be covered under Iowa Legal Aid’s malpractice coverage.

Position Location:

Most cases are placed externally and service is provided by the volunteer attorney at his or her law office. Volunteers needing office space to perform volunteer activities or wishing to only assist on internal cases may make arrangements with a regional Iowa Legal Aid office. Iowa Legal Aid offices are located in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Iowa City, Mason City, Ottumwa, Sioux City, and Waterloo. Volunteers may be needed to staff tables at Disaster Recovery Centers and local community and agency resource fairs.

Time Commitment:

The time commitment will depend on the scope of the disaster, the volunteer’s ability and Iowa Legal Aid’s needs.

Position Benefits:

Work with dedicated, passionate, and collegial staff and volunteers. Positively impact members of your community.

 

If you are interested in this volunteer position, please contact Iowa Legal Aid at 1-800-532-1275.

For more information about Iowa Legal Aid, go to http://www.iowalegalaid.org/ and http://iowalegalaidfoundation.org/

 

Iowa Legal Aid is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Reasonable accommodations are available to qualified applicants upon request

Auxiliary aids and services are available in alternative formats

Volunteer language proficiency evaluators at Iowa Legal Aid play an important role in helping low-income Iowans with limited English proficiency (LEP) skills gain access to justice. Language proficiency evaluators will assess the translation and interpretation abilities of prospective volunteer translators and interpreters. In addition, they may also review and provide feedback on the materials translated by Iowa Legal Aid’s volunteer translators. We need volunteers to evaluate for languages of Iowa’s LEP low-income populations, including but not limited to Spanish, Arabic, Bosnian, Somali, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, German, Russian, Swahili and Laotian.

Qualified volunteer applicants will be language professors, translation studies graduate students and translators/interpreters holding certifications from government bodies such as state or federal courts or recognized professional associations such as the ATA, NAJIT, CCHI, NBCMI or RID.

Volunteer language proficiency evaluators may be asked to review materials such as website articles, outreach resources, legal forms or client letters. Based on their availability, volunteer evaluators will be given regular assignments which they can perform remotely.

http://www.iowalegalaid.org/resource/volunteers-wanted-at-iowa-legal-aid