Description

Experience Appalachia from the inside and help provide safe housing for low-income families in West Virginia! Tax-deductible service program cost includes food, lodging, local transportation, team leader, project materials, donation to the community and administrative costs. Volunteers work alongside 'Youth Build' participants -- young people working toward their GED and learning construction skills. Volunteers may also be asked to tutor schoolchildren. Global Volunteers team members work under the direction of The Southern Appalachian Labor School (SALS), a private nonprofit organization, which promotes continued education and addresses local economic decline. Volunteers help to renovate former coal company houses, where low-income families can afford to live.

Highlights

Volunteers gain an excellent, first-hand understanding of life in Appalachia: the struggles and the tremendous cultural richness. The hosts strive to give everyone the chance to make a significant contribution to the work project and the long-term development of the community. The Fayette County region features a number of outdoor free-time activities including white-water rafting, mountain biking and hiking. Thousands of trails lead through the New River Gorge National River and the Monongahela National Forest, along the famed Appalachia Trail.

Qualifications

Everyone can offer an important service. This volunteer program is open to any English speaker who can assist with general light construction and building repair, painting, sanding and the like; volunteers must be willing to serve as a member of a team and take direction from local leaders.

Languages

• English

Cost in US$:

USD 995

Cost Includes:

• Food
• Housing
• In-country orientation/Training
• In-country staff support
• Pre-departure orientation/Training
• Registration fees
• Written materials abroad
• Written materials pre-departure

Program Fees Include:

The service program fee directly supports the partner community's on-going development program and covers your meals, lodging, transportation to and from the work site, project expenses, administrative costs, and the services of a team leader. The service program cost does not cover your airfare or other transportation to the host community. All costs, including airfare, are tax-deductible for U.S. tax-payers.

Credit Available

yes

Experience Required

no

Volunteer Types

Typical Volunteer

USA volunteers are culturally curious and open-minded people looking to contribute to a community development project and to improve their understanding of different ways of life, and the social struggles in developing communities. They are all ages, from various ethnic backgrounds, and of all different professions, such as educators, students, laborers, medical professionals, full-time parents, computer professionals, artists, lawyers and the like.

Age Range

minors with parents through age 90.

This Program is open to

Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples and Individuals.

Typical Living Arrangements

• Dormitory

Participants Travel

Independently

Typically Participants Work

in Groups of 10-12

Scholarships are Available

Please check with us throughout the year to learn about partial and full scholarships which may be available.

Application Process Involves

• Letters of Reference
• Phone/Video Interview
• Written Application

Typically The Application Process Time is

12 hours

Post Services Include

• Alumni Network
• Exit Debriefing Abroad
• Re-Entry Debriefing at Home

Global Volunteers's Mission Statement

"Partners in Development". Founded to help advance peace, rehabilitate improverished communities, and promote mutual international understanding between peoples of diverse cultures through short-term volunteer service on long-term community development programs. We maintain on-going partnerships with local leaders and indigenous host organizations worldwide. Each year, we mobilize up to 300 teams of volunteers to work alongside local people on work projects central to their advancement. We also raise funds to support our international and domestic partners and to provide child sponsorships for educational, social and medical assistance. Global Volunteers is in special consultative status with the United Nations and UNICEF.

Year Founded

1984