JV Orientation
COVID-19 Safety Planning
Please consider being COVID-cautious in these next weeks leading up to your departure for O. Some suggestions are: limiting unmasked indoor contact with people outside your immediate household and avoiding large indoor gatherings in general.
Please take a COVID-19 self-test the day before your departure for Oregon.
If you test positive, please don’t travel and contact JVC Northwest Staff at our main number 503-335-8202 and we will start to arrange a new plan for you to make it your locale. In the event of a positive test before you depart, we will devise ways for you to catch up on what you miss at O.
Please wear a mask during your transportation from your point of entry to Portland to Camp. Once you arrive, we will have everyone test again during registration at Camp Arrah Wanna.
We will only ask that you test again during the week of Orientation in the event that you start to feel ill. For those who feel sick and for those who test positive, we will have space in which you can isolate during Orientation to minimize the risk of it spreading within our group. We will have a nurse on-site to assist with both COVID and non-COVID health concerns. If your isolation needs to last past the final day at Camp we will arrange for a safe way for you to recover and make it your locale eventually.
While masks during O won’t be mandatory – we encourage you to wear one, especially when we are gathered inside and not eating. Bring some of your own to use.
What is Orientation?
Orientation 2022: Sowing Solidarity
“If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” ― Lilla Watson
Solidarity is a radical act. In a society that worships profit, solidarity is countercultural, and a path to the world we seek to create. But this mutual responsibility or communion of interests can only be cultivated where there is relationship – a web of humans, animals, beings, earth. We cannot be in solidarity with some distant ideal, only with those seeking it. How do we truly encounter each other? How do we become intimately familiar with the ways our lives and loves are bound up with those we may not yet or never know? Might relationships with those next to us guide our understanding of the relentless oil-climate-race-brutality-fire-virus-flood-shooting-crisis?
Sowing solidarity is a hyper-local, gritty act. It takes time, contact, and ground. It relies on the flawed and hopeful generations of seeds, sowers, and soil ecology that birthed the present. As a Sower, you must listen to and learn to collaborate with soil, communities, and Spirit. Sowers wait for growth and tend to what has taken hold. Sowers trust in a future still unknown that they may never witness. Sowing may not be as flashy as harvesting, but through the groundwork of listening, introspection, and accompaniment, may we find and feed the network of our bounded liberation with a sense of bounty and abundance.
Travel and Arrival Information
Location
Orientation takes place at Camp Arrah Wanna in Welches, OR, a camp tucked into the woods at the base of Mt. Hood with simple cabins and lodge facilities, located 1 hour southeast of Portland
When to Arrive
Please schedule your arrival in Portland for Monday, August 8. More information about arrival is listed below. If you are arriving before August 8, please plan to book your own lodging. JVC Northwest arranges transportation from Portland International Airport and Union Station Train & Bus Depot on August 8th. JV AmeriCorps members arriving by car should drive directly to camp. Please consult the transportation arrival times below based on your transportation mode.
Luggage Allowance
At the end of Orientation, all JVs are either flying, driving, or taking the train to their locales. You are permitted to bring two pieces of luggage to Orientation. Please limit yourself to these two bags because space in our transportation shuttles will be very tight. Be sure your full name and contact information are clearly labeled on all bags!
Bag 1: 50 lb. or less: we will store this bag for you during Orientation week. JVC Northwest will pay the cost of checking this one bag when you travel to your locale at the end of Orientation.
Bag 2: The bag you'll have with you during Orientation, which should include a sleeping bag, pillow, clothes, etc. for that week. This should be standard airplane carry-on luggage size, regardless of your mode of transportation to your locale. If this second bag is too large to be carried on for free, please note that you will be in charge of covering the cost for this on your way to your service locale. Thank you for your understanding of the limited space and finances for luggage! See below for more about what to pack.
Transportation Arrival Times
In order to meet you upon arrival, we ask that you complete the Orientation Travel Form (part of your Onboarding forms). If your travel plans change after submitting the form, please resubmit the form with the new changes.
If your plans change or there’s an emergency during your travel day, call 503-335-8202, the JVC Northwest office in Portland. A staff member will be monitoring this phone for messages on Monday and throughout the week of Orientation.
Please note that only certain locales and placements require a car for the service year. We ask that all other JVs do not bring a car for the year, unless you have discussed it with your Program Coordinator.
Arrive before 1 p.m. A representative of our staff will meet you at the train station (Union Station), which is one block north of the bus station. We will confirm your pickup time and share more details with you by email as it gets closer.
Please arrive at Camp Arrah Wanna between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. Please do not arrive at Orientation before Monday, August 8. Contact us if you want to connect about carpooling with JVs traveling from your area.
Arrive at the Portland International Airport (PDX) by 2 p.m. on August 8. JVC Northwest staff will have a table from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. near Baggage Claim; please meet us there.
Preparing for Orientation
Below is a list of everything that is due before you arrive at Orientation. Please note: all forms must be submitted prior to your arrival on August 8; we cannot accept forms at Orientation. All forms can be accessed online unless otherwise noted.
Forms due June 1:
- Criminal History Check Authorization
- Government Issued ID
- Health Insurance Acceptance/Waiver Form
- Health Insurance ID (upload a copy if you decline JVC Northwest Insurance)
- JV Information Form (with emergency contact info, cabin preference, bio, picture, etc.)
- Medical Form and COVID-19 Vaccination Information
- Policy Acknowledgement:
- Code of Conduct
- Covenant
- Drug & Alcohol Policy
- Whistleblower Policy & Addendum
Forms due by July 1:
- Orientation Travel Form (now available!)
- I-9 and W-4 forms (emailed to you directly)
Please keep a copy of the full version of the Code of Conduct for your records. Please note that there will be time for questions regarding the Code of Conduct and Whistle Blower Policy at Orientation.
One Final Task for JV AmeriCorps Members: In July, you will receive an email invitation from the “MyAmeriCorps” Portal. It is essential that you provide an accurate and timely response prior to Orientation.
Orientation weather is usually pleasantly warm, but the Northwest gets chilly at night and rain is always a possibility. The main meeting space we will be gathering most day is air conditioned. Camp Arrah Wanna provides lots of space for recreation, including a swimming pool. There’s also downtime for reflection, music, and just hanging out. Please pack:
- Passport or other ID documents. If you uploaded a copy of your passport some weeks ago so we could process your background checks, then please bring the passport with you to Orientation. If you did not upload a passport, then David (our Business Manager) will be in touch with you about what documents to bring. We must see the physical documents in order to complete your I-9, and we must complete the I-9 before you can officially begin as a JV. So, if you forget to bring the document(s) to Orientation, you will have to have someone send it to us by overnight mail.
- Comfortable, casual clothing for the week
- Jacket or sweater
- Rain gear (just in case!)
- Swim suit (if you want to swim in the swimming pool)
- Sleeping bag (or twin sheets) and pillow
- Towel, soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, sunscreen, bug spray, and any other toiletries or hygiene products you need
- Flashlight/headlamp
- Musicians: bring musical instruments
- At least a month’s supply of medication, if needed; more if headed to a more rural locale
- A small amount of cash for purchasing postcard stamps and JVC Northwest swag, if you would like
- A spare pair of glasses and/or contacts, and a copy of your eyeglasses/contacts prescription
- Clothing for service. Prepare to follow the dress code in your position description
- College gear or small banner for college photo day (optional)
If you are concerned you won’t be able to fit everything in these two bags, you are welcome to mail additional items to your specific JV community. The address for your community will be included in an email from your Program Coordinator in July.
After you arrive at Orientation and register on August 8, you can relax until we have dinner. Optional activities will be going on throughout the day. This is a good time to call your loved ones to let them know you have arrived safely. After dinner on the first night, we ask you to turn off your cell phone and any other electronic devices for the rest of the week. We invite you to immerse yourself in the core values, community, and contemplative time. If you have extenuating circumstances around communication, please talk to your Program Coordinator.
