Applicants must be available for training on May 21-22, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee

The Program Coordinator Position will be funded as an initial one year grant funded position with the opportunity to apply for two additional years.

The Program Coordinator of the Volunteer Mentorship Initiative is responsible for recruiting, interviewing, supervising and training volunteer mentors participating in the Tennessee Governor’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative, aligning and communicating the message of “Trust, Prepare, Champion.”  The service area includes Shelby County and all of West Tennessee.

The Volunteer Mentorship Initiative is designed to create Mentorship programs at one or more of Tennessee’s 14 state prisons.  HopeWorks, Inc. is a reentry organization offering programs in Shelby County Corrections facilities as well as operating Next Story, a twenty-bed reentry transitional home for men with justice involvement. 

The Volunteer Mentorship Initiative (VMI) Program Coordinator will be responsible for recruiting 50 to 100 volunteers that will go into a Tennessee State Prison at least once per month to mentor a client over the period of one year.  The source of the volunteer recruitment pool will be churches, civic organizations, community partners and anyone interested in mentorship located in or near the service area.  In addition to recruitment and collaboration with community partners, the Volunteer Mentoring Coordinator will be responsible for ensuring volunteer and client success and achieving program goals, ensuring HopeWorks follows all grant guidelines, including required grant reporting. The Volunteer Mentoring Program Coordinator will work with the Director of Life Services to provide vision, direction and oversight for the Volunteer Mentorship Initiative, ensuring it aligns with the HopeWorks mission, vision and values and the message of “Trust, Prepare, Champion.”

The Program Coordinator can expect day travel throughout West Tennessee.  The VMI Program Coordinator will be responsible for coordinating and implementing volunteer mentorship training, record keeping, and reporting to funding agencies as needed. The Program Coordinator must have the ability to strategically create plans to meet goals and objectives.

The Program Coordinator for the Volunteer Mentorship Initiative should model HopeWorks values and ethics central to the HopeWorks mission of “Hope in Christ”.  To be effective in this position, one must be caring, empathetic, conscientious, confidential, culturally-sensitive, and client-centered. The VMI Program Coordinator should model and communicate the message of “Trust, Prepare, Champion.” This individual should adhere to professional standards as outlined by rules and regulations governing their profession. 

The House Shepherd will maintain a physical presence for men living at Next Story transitional home until they transition into stable employment and housing. The Shepherd will maintain residence in one of the designated House Shepherd rooms and spend each night there, including weekend nights, unless alternate coverage is arranged and approved by the Director of Next Story. The Shepherd will provide general oversite of the evening and weekend operations designed to support clients as they begin working and participating in intervention activities provided through HopeWorks programming.

Reporting to the Director of Next Story, the House Shepherd will provide timely information and updates of each resident to the Director on a regular basis. The House Shepherd will be part of the Intervention team, assuring that clients at Next Story are following the programming schedule as outlined for the individual client and client group as a whole.

The House Shepherd should model HopeWorks values and ethics central to the HopeWorks mission of “Hope in Christ”. To be effective in this position, one must be caring, empathetic, conscientious, confidential, culturally sensitive, and client centered. This individual should adhere to professional standards as outlined by rules and regulations governing their profession.

The Adult ESL Instructor works with the Adult ESL instructional team to prepare and execute instruction of students. The instructor can expect to prepare lessons, instruct students, collaborate with staff, manage sites, contact students regarding progress and record and verify accuracy of data. They should be an engaging instructor who uses performance data to inform instructional decisions, willing to work with a team to accomplish program goals, and conscientious about keeping and recording accurate records. The Adult ESL Instructor is responsible for helping students progress in their English skills (as evidenced by achieving measurable skills gains) and connect with students to track attendance and progress. 

The successful Adult ESL Instructor should have an understanding of data-based instruction, strong understanding of the structure of the English language, ability to relate and build rapport with people of diverse backgrounds, and proficiency with computers and software, such as G Suite, Google Classroom, and Promethean Boards. They should be reliable, professional, and have excellent interpersonal skills. They should also be able to differentiate instruction based on student needs and integrate skills and content to deliver cohesive integrated lessons.

The Adult ESL Instructor should model HopeWorks values and ethics central to the HopeWorks mission of “Hope in Christ”.  To be effective in this position, one must be caring, empathetic, conscientious, confidential, culturally-sensitive, and client-centered.  This individual should adhere to professional standards as outlined by rules and regulations governing their profession.

The part-time Adult Basic Education (ABE) Instructor works with the ABE instructional team to prepare and execute instruction of students. The instructor can expect to prepare lessons, instruct students, collaborate with staff, contact students regarding progress, and record data. 

The instructor should be engaging, using performance data to inform instructional decisions, willing to work with a team to accomplish program goals, and conscientious about keeping and recording accurate records. The ABE Instructor is responsible for ensuring an educational atmosphere where adult students have the opportunity to fulfill their academic and career goals by earning a High School Equivalency (HSE) Diploma and/or growing their basic skills in Math, Language, Science, Social Studies, and Reading, as demonstrated by progressing through the six Educational Functioning Levels defined by the National Reporting System (NRS) (as evidenced by achieving measurable skills gains).

The successful part-time Instructor should have an understanding of data-based instruction, strong understanding of Basic Adult Education, the ability to relate and build rapport with people of diverse backgrounds, and proficiency with computers and software, such as G Suite, Google Classroom, and Promethean Boards. He or she should be reliable, professional, and have excellent interpersonal skills. The instructor should also be able to differentiate instruction based on student needs and integrate skills and content to deliver cohesive integrated lessons.

The part-time Instructor should model HopeWorks values and ethics central to the HopeWorks mission of “Hope in Christ”.  To be effective in this position, one must be caring, empathetic, conscientious, confidential, culturally-sensitive, and client-centered.  This individual should adhere to professional standards as outlined by rules and regulations governing their profession. 

The Student Coordinator (SC) works with the Adult Basic Education Team to communicate with Adult Basic Education Learners and manage student files and data; keep and report accurate attendance records; check files and data for accuracy; test and enroll students. Availability to work some nights required. They should be thorough, accurate, and have excellent interpersonal skills. The Student Coordinator is responsible for greeting students and helping them with the enrollment and testing processes

The successful Student Coordinator should have an understanding of basic customer service principles and proficiency with computers and software, such as Google Sheets and Google Docs. Problem-solving skills and the ability to handle high-pressure situations while maintaining focus on serving students are very important in this position. This individual should be flexible, efficient, organized, and capable of independently solving problems.

The Student Coordinator should model HopeWorks values and ethics central to the HopeWorks mission of “Hope in Christ”.  To be effective in this position, one must be caring, empathetic, conscientious, confidential, culturally-sensitive, and client-centered.  This individual should adhere to professional standards as outlined by rules and regulations governing their profession.