Imagine doing volunteer work, but getting paid for it.
IU’s Advocates for Community Engagement (ACE) allows students to do that. It provides nonprofit organizations with free labor, and then pays the students itself.
“It’s an undergraduate program, but we really see it as professional position,” Colleen Rose, IU’s Coordinator for Civic Engagement, said. “It’s a lot about management, coordination, working with faculty, and they are also learning a lot about working for a nonprofit organization.”
Beth Gazley, assistant professor in School of Public and Environmental Affairs, believes it’s a win-win situation for everyone involved. The students, agency and the University all get something out of it, she said.
“We have a student who is working for the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project,” Rose said. “This student is learning a lot about prison issues, and at the same time educating their peers.”
Being an ACE is a 10-hour-a-week paid position, Rose said.
“We look for people who have a strong commitment to community service and leadership,” Rose said.
Gazley said 73 percent of Indiana non-profits use volunteers. Fourty-two percent of those non-profits reported recruiting and retaining volunteers as a major challenge, she added.
“Being an ACE is a huge responsibility,” Gazley said. “Volunteers have high turnover rates, which is why when you are an ACE, you have to do it for at least a year.”
Sophomore Ashley Troth, a volunteer at Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, said she works about 15 hours a week, 10 of which she gets paid for.
“I love being an ACE,” Troth said. “It’s really interesting and a cool way to give students this opportunity. It motivates you to have a role in general, to have a real say.”
Brooke Gentile, the executive director at Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, said the organization serves about 1,450 clients a week.
“We have the largest food pantry in Monroe County, with 85 volunteers and only two people on staff,” Gentile said. “Having an ACE is very helpful.”
Matt Careskey, a junior who works for the Crestmont Boys and Girls Club, said he loves being an ACE.
“It is good because it’s a good way for students to help other students get involved with the community,” he said. “Instead of having the volunteer coordinator of the nonprofit organization try and get people to volunteer, it’s a lot easier for the ACE who is already on campus to get other students involved.”
Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard and The Boys and Girls Club are just a few of many nonprofit organizations that have ACEs. The Monroe Country Library, City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department and Fairview Elementary School are a few organizations that each have an ACE.
Rose said that students of all ages apply for positions. The application date for the fall semester has already passed, but in the future, students interested can apply online at www.indiana.edu/~copsl/aces.shtml.
“We want students who want to get involved outside of the campus walls,” Rose said.