Ohio Benefit Bank in Schools - Outreach

Attention school staff and volunteers!  Want to help your students and their families connect to public benefits like food assistance or Medicaid, and tax credits like the EITC?  View the brief presentation below to get an idea of what the Benefit Bank is.

Interested?  Contact Sarah Olinger to discuss further how you can use this tool, or go ahead and register as an OBB site HERE.  See a recent press release on our efforts HERE.

To view this Prezi, click on the gray arrow at the bottom of the box and keep clicking to view each step.  You can also view it in another window by clicking the "OBB in Schools" link beneath the box.

OBB in Schools on Prezi

You can also view a more comprehensive and detailed look at the Ohio Benefit Bank via a webinar I created on YouTube here:

How to become and Ohio Benefit Bank counselor

Here is a presentation that explains the steps to becoming an OBB counselor. Just keep clicking the gray arrow at the bottom of the presentation box to navigate your way through the presentation. There is a text version of the presentation beneath the interactive box.

How to become an Ohio Benefit Bank counselor on Prezi

So you've always wanted to become an Ohio Benefit Bank counselor...

1. First, are you associated with an already established OBB site? If not:
1. Use our site finder to find an established site in your area, then contact the site to get approval to volunteer with them with the Ohio Benefit Bank.
2. "Wait!  I already work/go to church/volunteer/know of someplace that would be a great Benefit Bank site.  Can't I just do Benefit Bank there?"
3. Sure!  Check out our other post about how to become a new Benefit Bank site.

Once you're associated with a site, you then need to find a date you can attend training in your county.

1. Find the Google Training Calendar on the right hand side of this blog.  Click to open up the calendar and view upcoming training dates.
2. Register for the training by emailing an AmeriCorps*VISTA Community Trainer (contact information on the right sidebar of this blog as well).
1. Make sure you provide your full name, email, phone number in case we have to cancel due to inclement weather, and the site you are working with.

Remember:  All trainings are from 9:30 am - 4:00 pm.  You will receive an email a few days before the training with detailed location information.

 

How to become a new Benefit Bank site.

Here is a presentation that explains the steps to becoming a new OBB site.  Just keep clicking the grey arrow at the bottom of the presentation box to navigate your way through the presentation.  There is a text version of the presentation beneath the interactive box.

Become a Benefit Bank site on Prezi

So you want to become a new Ohio Benefit Bank site?  Before you decide, consider the qualifications:

1. No monetary cost
1. Free software, trainings, and marketing
2. Other costs
1. Human resources (make sure you have a solid volunteer or staff base that can be trained as counselors).
2. High speed internet and printer (The Benefit Bank is online software, so high speed internet is crucial.  A goal of The Benefit Bank is client education and preparedness, so you would have to print off helpful information and client applications.)

Got all that?  Great! To become a new site you first have to...

1. Attend a webinar
1. The webinar is an hour-long online introduction for the site administrator.  It goes over the privileges and responsibilities of becoming a site.
2. We offer a webinar once a week and it is online so you will be able to listen from your own computer and will not need to travel to attend.
2. Upon completion of the webinar you will be sent some online paperwork
1. Once you have completed the online paperwork you will officially be a site.

Next you will be able to have your employees and counselors attend trainings

1. This is a day long training (9:30 am - 4:00 pm) to teach new counselors how to access and operate the OBB software.

If you want to find out more or contact a representative, click on "Contact your local Benefit Bank Community Trainer" on the right hand side of this blog.

A new presentation tool - Prezi

If you clicked on the “Blog Tour” at the top of the posts and said “Wow, can I make a presentation like that for MY organization?”  The answer is a resounding: yes!

Here is a link to a tutorial on how to use Prezi to make presentations to your volunteers, funders, and community.  

http://prezi.com/learn/getting-started/

If you have any questions about Prezi or how to access things on our blog, please contact Sarah at solinger@oashf.org