Apply to be a LISC AmeriCorps Host Site

What you need to know 

LISC AmeriCorps supports expanding the reach and impact of our not-for-profit partners to build their staffing capacity by placing passionate, dedicated individuals with community development groups in the neighborhoods where we work. LISC AmeriCorps members learn skills through service while gaining leadership experience.

LISC AmeriCorps is thrilled to offer two separate AmeriCorps programs for community partners – LISC AmeriCorps Classic and LISC AmeriCorps Economic Mobility Corps. A primary goal of the LISC AmeriCorps program is to give a range of individuals, especially people of color with lived experience, the opportunity to participate. As AmeriCorps participants, members will earn as they learn the skills needed for careers in the not-for-profit and CDFI industry. Placement sites benefits from the enthusiasm and dedication of an emerging community advocate to implement and expand their programming. It affords sites with the ability to coach and mentor a committed person in leadership and community-driven change. In essence, placement sites can grow local talent while building the relationship with your local LISC office. 

LISC AmeriCorps Classic 

The LISC AmeriCorps Classic program is offered in alignment with local LISC office and national LISC program strategy. Members perform the following types of service while placed at not-for-profit community partners: 

• Employment/job training 
• Financial coaching 
• Housing asset management services 
• Housing counseling services 
• Housing physical development 
• Volunteer engagement 
• Community building, including community needs assessments  

LISC AmeriCorps Economic Mobility Corps (EMC) 

The Economic Mobility Corps (EMC) is the result of a new, innovative partnership between the CDFI Fund and AmeriCorps. The initiative places AmeriCorps members at certified CDFIs to serve program clients while simultaneously expanding CDFI capacity to provide financial counseling and broaden the scale and impact of CDFI programs.

Our EMC program focuses on the provision of financial counseling services that help people gain increased financial knowledge and/or lead people to purchase/remain in safe, decent, healthy affordable housing. EMC members will fill specific roles that build capacity of CDFIs and can undertake the following activities: 

• Conducting community outreaching and recruitment of new clients to the CDFI’s financial counseling and planning services and programs 
• Assisting or conducting one-on-one group orientation sessions for new program clients to explain the CDFI’s services, as well as the responsibilities of the client 
• Providing financial planning workshops and individual financial counseling to meet the needs of CDFI clients, including conducting group education meetings and delivering workshops and webinars 
• Assisting in the development and execution of marketing strategies to promote client participation in CDFI-sponsored financial counseling and education programs 
• Providing program clients with information on the available financial products and services 
• Conducting follow-ups with program clients to help them stay engaged to achieve their goals 

The AmeriCorps (agency) precludes a member from “providing a direct benefit to a business organized for profit” and that “while a member is accumulating service or training hours, or otherwise performing activities supported by the LISC AmeriCorps program, members may not engage either directly or indirectly in (indirectly includes recruiting, training, or managing others for the primary purposes of engaging in the prohibited activity) this activity.” In August 2023, AmeriCorps provided updated guidance, which allows members to serve at a: Business Development Organization (BDO) that is a not-for-profit and provides financial counseling services; Not-for-profit organization, including a CDFI, to support business development within the already established organization (i.e., the organization essentially has a BDO or performs BDO type services); and Chamber of Commerce which is a nonprofit and whose mission is community revitalization.

The basis for the change is that the entrepreneur, microenterprise, or small business is organized as employment and not for the sole purpose of making profit. In the places where LISC and CDFIs work, we are taking into consideration that entities BDOs serve primarily fall into this designation. As you consider potential member activities, we would look to see that members are supporting businesses that have fewer than five people employed; are in one location if a brick and mortar; and/or are on a main street/ commercial corridor of an under-resourced neighborhood. For more detailed information, please review the “prohibited activities,” and “providing a benefit to an entrepreneur or microenterprise” guidance located in the host site application materials.

To serve as a placement site for either the Classic or the EMC programs, organizations must: 

• Complete an application  
• Be responsible for any applicable match or stipend payments as part of hosting a member 
• Be a not-for-profit organization that can provide evidence of a current SAM.gov registration without exclusion; if using a fiscal agent, provide a Memorandum of Understanding between the applicant organization and fiscal agent 
• Sign a Placement Site Agreement and grant letter (if applicable)   
• Onboard the member to your organization and attend LISC AmeriCorps onboarding sessions 
• Review and approve member bi-monthly timesheets and monthly reports 
• Monitor and proactively respond to member goal attainment 
• Perform midterm and final appraisals with AmeriCorps assessment tools 
• Provide opportunities for member coaching, mentoring, and networking 
• Check-in with LISC AmeriCorps or local LISC staff on a regular basis to monitor progress 
• Invite members to special events, meetings and trainings 
• Provide office space and/or plan for remote work 
• Recruit and identify a candidate to LISC AmeriCorps at least two weeks prior to the anticipated member start date 
• For EMC only, the partner must also be a U.S. Treasury certified CDFI