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SEAPAX Monthly Newsletter
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May Newsletter
 Virtual Happy Hour
You're invited to a virtual happy hour to connect with fellow RPCVs in the Seattle area! Please join us Thursday, May 7 at 6.00 pm PST. Bring your own margaritas and tortilla chips and prepare yourself for a fun virtual social hour!
We request that you enable your video and audio for this siesta; computer connection preferred, but mobile connection is also an option. Please RSVP to receive the Zoom link.
 General and COVID-19 Specific Resources
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CDC COVID-19 Fact Sheet | What you should know about COVID-19 to protect yourself and others
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WA Coronavirus Response -- How You Can Help | Personal protective equipment, volunteering (emergency volunteer health practitioners), blood and plasma donation, food bank, etc.
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NPCA Global Re-entry Program | Connect with RPCVs, steps to begin your transition, health & well-being, jobs & careers, webinars, scholarships, continued service opportunities
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Online Resources Compiled by Health Resource Partners | Education, college students, mental health, meditation & yoga, fitness & dance, fun for kids, virtual tours & live theatre, etc.
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Career & Life Coaching for RPCVs | Online resources for how to lead a fulfilling life after Peace Corps and 1:1/small group virtual coaching from RPCV (limited space)
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NPCA Jobs Board
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SEAPAX Jobs Board
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Federal Government COVID-19 Response Jobs
 Open Board Positions
Would you like to get more involved with SEAPAX and our local RPCV community? There is no better way to do so than to serve on our Board. We would like to fill the following non-elected Board positions immediately:
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Communications/Membership Chair
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Mentor Program Co-Chair: Help with our brand-new mentor program designed to assist recently evacuated PCVs in their transition during these unusual times. In just over one month, the program has been a huge success matching 39 mentees with 22 mentors! This position would assist in program communication and outreach, matching, and mentor support. Past experience with mentor programs is preferred but not required.
If you are interested and/or would like to learn more, please email us.
 Advocacy
Check out the NPCA blog providing legislative updates around Peace Corps and evacuees.
The Department of Labor announced evacuated RPCVs are now eligible for unemployment through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Provision of the CARES Act! Individual evacuees must contact the Washington State Labor Department on how to apply. For more information, see the NPCA blog linked above or the Washington State Employment Security Department. You can also reach out Beth, Erin, or Carlie of the SEAPAX Advocacy team with questions or for assistance.
A record number of 42 senators, including Washington Senator Maria Cantwell, signed the Peace Corps Funding Dear Colleague Letter, which was written prior to the evacuation and requested an increase in funding for fiscal year 2021! A big thank you to everyone who contacted their senators. Click here to send a thank you.
 Service
SEAPAX has recently partnered with United Way of King County to expand our service opportunities. Check out the below opportunities here!
- Phone bank to connect community members to critical resources
- Deliver meals to low-income Seattle families
- Distribute meals to Kent School District students
- Support food banks with packing, meal prep, and home delivery
We are also very excited to partner with the Coalition on Homelessness! This coalition represents a multitude of partner organizations in Seattle and across King County and works to provide education, advocacy, mobilization, and housing justice for individuals who are housing insecure or experiencing homelessness. In response to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Coalition on Homelessness is organizing a new initiative called the Community Health and Kindness Corps. This will be an IN-PERSON service opportunity still in the process of being organized. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer member, please complete this short form. You will be contacted with more information once the program is fully established.
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Coming Up
Virtual Happy Hour
Thursday, May 7
6 pm
RSVP for Zoom link
Book Club
Sunday, June 14
3-5 pm
What Truth Sounds Like: Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and Our Unfinished Conversations About Race in America - Michael Eric Dyson
Stay tuned to find out if it will be virtual or in-person!
New Members
Welcome to SEAPAX's newest members who joined in April!
- Skylar Block
- Sara Sherburne
- Jake Janesch
- Sheneil Myers
- Rachel Cantrell
- Michelle Emerson
- May C
- Jason Walker
- Patrice Stankavich
- Lee Daneker
- Misti McDowell
- Anitha Weiss
- Melissa Mattwig
- Julie Allen
- Todd Friedmar
Request for Evacuees from Pierce County
A News Tribune journalist is interested in contacting and interviewing an evacuee from Pierce County. If you are interested in sharing your story, please email either Kathleen Corey or Matt Misterek.
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Graduate School & Reading
Graduate School Opportunites with RPCV Benefits
The SIT Graduate Institute currently offers the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) Scholarship to returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCVs), which has a benefit of 25% off tuition and can be used towards any of our master’s degree programs. They are now increasing this scholarship to 35% off tuition for spring returnees who needed to come home due to the coronavirus pandemic. The benefit is valid for two years, starting in fall 2020.
The Syracuse University - Maxwell School is offering PCVs who have been recalled due to COVID-19 the opportunity to apply for 2020 admission to the #1-ranked MPA program and the MA in International Relations. Qualified students applying by May 15th, 2020 will have the $75 application fee waived, the GRE requirement waived, and students accepted to the program will be awarded a 50% tuition scholarship. Email paia@maxwell.syr.edu with subject line “Peace Corps Offer” and we will send you the information on how to apply.
New Book on the Peace Corps
The Death of Idealism: Development and Anti-Politics in the Peace Corps
By Meghan Elizabeth Kallman | Assistant Professor at the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development at the University of Massachusetts Boston
The book is based on interviews with over 140 current and returned Peace Corps volunteers, field observations, and a large-scale survey. Code CUP30 gets people a 30% discount.
Evacuated PCVs Need Help Now
Read an article by Kathleen M. Corey, President of the non-profit organization Women of Peace Corps Legacy, in support of the evacuated Peace Corps Volunteers.
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