Position Title: Trail Stewards Training Program – VISTA Summer Associate

Conservation Legacy Program: Stewards Individual Placement

Site Location:

First State National Historical Park

10 Market Street, New Castle, DE 19720

Terms of Service:

• Start Date: 6/1/2026
• End Date: 8/9/2026
• AmeriCorps Slot Classification: 300 hours (Minimum-Time)

Purpose:

• This project supports poverty alleviation by building long-term capacity for the park’s volunteer program, which creates accessible pathways for community member to gain skills, experience, and connections in the outdoor field. By strengthening systems that expand engagement across New Castle, the project increases the park’s ability to offer inclusive, skill-building programs that empower local residents over time.
• The project builds capacity for the park by creating a comprehensive training plan for on boarding new Trail Steward Volunteers that expand the park’s ability to reach more volunteers and have a consistent on boarding process without increasing staff workload, aligning with strategies that strengthen long term outreach and program sustainability.
• The Summer VISTA will support First State National Historical Park’s Trail Steward Program, a volunteer initiative that assists with maintaining the park’s 27 miles of trails and administrative road. Working alongside park staff—including maintenance, facilities, and volunteer management teams—the VISTA will develop a formalized volunteer onboarding and training plan to strengthen program consistency, safety, and long-term sustainability. The VISTA will complete this work at First State National Historical Park, primarily at the Brandywine Valley unit, where most Trail Steward activities occur. The position is scheduled for the summer term, during which the volunteer program is most active. By developing clear, accessible training processes and tools, the VISTA will help ensure that new volunteers can safely and confidently participate in trail maintenance, support stewardship projects, and contribute to the park’s mission of preserving natural and cultural resources. This project is essential because it builds long-term capacity for the park—creating standardized systems, improving volunteer readiness, and enabling staff to manage a growing volunteer corps more efficiently and effectively.

Description of Duties:

The Summer Associate will focus on capacity-building activities that produce internal planning resources, documentation tools, and community engagement materials. Duties may include compiling labor market research summaries, developing workforce resource inventories, creating community asset maps, organizing environmental data sets, drafting partnership coordination frameworks, designing planning templates and resource guides, and assisting with public-facing informational workshops, outreach campaigns, or site observations. Activities are designed to strengthen host organizations’ capacity, guide long-term workforce and environmental program development, provide tangible connections between planning tools and community needs, and support measurable outcomes in workforce access, environmental stewardship, and community engagement.

The Summer VISTA will create a formalized training plan to onboard future volunteers into the Trail steward program in the Brandywine Valley unit of First State National Historical Park.

Qualifications:

• Desired education level: Some College
• Language requirement: English
• United States citizen, United States national, or a lawful permanent resident alien
• At least 17 years of age
• Has received a high school diploma or equivalency certificate; or has not dropped out of elementary or secondary school to enroll as an AmeriCorps participant, and agrees to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent prior to using the education award
• Agrees to provide information to establish eligibility and to complete a National Service Criminal History Check.

Physical Requirements:

Conservation Legacy is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals and will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to perform essential functions. Some positions may require periodic overnight travel, non-traditional hours, ability to move across varied terrain, use program-specific tools and a range of technology on an infrequent or frequent basis. Exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects. Ability to safely drive an organizational vehicle may also be required for some positions. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.

Time Requirements:

• Typically, this position is expected to serve full-time, 35-40 hours per week, but exact service schedules may vary. A half hour lunch break will not be counted towards AmeriCorps service
• Permits working at another job during off hours;
• Permits attendance at school during off hours

Orientation and Training:

• Member will receive an orientation that includes training on AmeriCorps prohibited and unallowable activities.
• Member will receive a Virtual Member Orientation (VMO) from VISTA on their first day of service.
• Uniforms provided and required;

Benefits:

• Segal AmeriCorps Education Award of $1,565.08
• Living Allowance of $957.46 (taxable) every other week.
• Healthcare Coverage if Eligible
• Childcare Coverage if Eligible
• Loan forbearance if Eligible
• Interest Payments if Eligible
• Recreational Opportunities
• Professional Development Opportunities

Evaluation and Reporting:

As an AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate, performance will be evaluated on whether the Summer Associate has completed the required number of hours, whether the Summer Associate has satisfactorily completed assignments, and if the Summer Associate has met other performance criteria that were clearly communicated at the beginning of the term of service.

Reporting requirements include, but are not limited to, bi-weekly timesheets and accomplishment tracking.

Supervisor Name and Contact Information:

Erin Adams

eadams@conservationlegacy.org

330 Harper Park Drive

Beckley, WV 25801

(304) 860-0578

Host Organization Contact:

Samantha Baranski
samantha_baranski@nps.gov
(207) 267-5553

Conservation Legacy is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodations due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.