Each summer 1,500 youth and adults from over 125 groups participate in our summer programs. For the summer of 2020, we will serve in five site locations throughout Oregon, California, and Arizona, and offer week-long sessions between June 2020 and August 2020. Last summer, teenagers completed over 80 projects on homes and community centers. Outside of work projects, youth share in worship and explore the culture of the communities where they are serving. Three of the sites are located in rural communities, one in a Native American community, and one in an urban community.
Our mission is to enable youth to:
Build faith and strengthen communities through service to others.
Common to all SSP programs is service to the elderly, poor, and marginalized. Our service is offered without strings attached, with an attitude of respect and humility.
Download the 2020 Summer Information Packet.
Thank you for signing up to participate as an adult counselor with Sierra Service Project. We realize many of you are using vacation time to attend; we’ll do our best to make this a rewarding experience for you too. We could not do the work that we do without dedicated adults like you! Part of our job is ensuring you feel prepared to serve and lead alongside our staff.
Learn More About Adult Counselors at SSP's Summer Programs
Adult Counselors
Counselors are a key element for a successful week for your group!
Youth are accompanied by adult counselors in a ratio of one adult for every four youth (1:4) for high school and combined programs, and one adult for every three or four youth (1:3 or 1:4) for middle school programs.
Counselors at high school, middle school, and combined sessions must be at least 23 years old and be chosen for maturity and role modeling capabilities. Those younger than 23 must be cleared and approved by the SSP office in advance.
Adults at intergenerational sessions may be on an all-adult work team, or may be asked to lead a youth work team. Only adults 23 or older will transport youth during the SSP week.
Online Counselor Training
We ask that all adult counselors new to SSP complete Online Counselor Training. This training is only required for first-time adults, but anyone is encouraged to take it. The course takes about one hour, and is due prior to your arrival at SSP.
Counselor Forms and Background Screening
Forms:
In order to protect the youth that we serve, we require adult counselors to complete a set of online forms, which will be sent to the email address your liaison provides us in MySSP. These forms include:
- Counselor Covenant (behavior agreement and community standards)
- Counselor Disclosure Form
- Photo Release Form
- Background Screening (see next section)
- Verified by church/group leader OR
- Completed online through SSP
- Medical History & Release Form
All online forms are due by June 1, to give us ample time to process them prior to volunteers’ arrival on site. We use secure transmission protocol and the appropriate encryptions to ensure your personal data is protected. Only SSP staff, relevant adult counselors or liaisons, and medical personnel will have access to these forms.
Background Screenings:
SSP requires that all counselors have successfully undergone a National Criminal Background Check within two years of the program date. The screening should cover:
- Identity verification
- Multistate criminal search (includes the nationwide sex offender registry)
- County criminal search
- Government sanctions
If you have been background checked since June 2018, you do not need to be checked again for summer 2020, but do need to have the screening verified. As part of your electronic forms, you will be prompted to enter contact information for the person who can verify your screening.
If you have not been checked since June 2018, you can either have your church, employer, or SSP run a background check on you. SSP partners with IntelliCorp, which is less expensive than other screening agencies, alleviates concerns about sending personal information through the mail, and eliminates most office processing work. Screenings start at $19.95, but may cost more depending on county records. To complete a screening through SSP’s Intellicorp platform, use the link below:
Complete a background check now
Password: counselor
Be sure to have all online volunteer forms and background screenings completed by June 1st on MySSP. Please allow plenty of time to complete these prior to the due date, as background screenings often take several weeks to be run, verified, and processed.
2020 Dates
- Week 1: June 21 – 27
- Week 2: June 28 – July 4
- Week 3: July 5 – 11
- Week 4: July 12 – 18
- Week 5: July 19 – 25
- Week 6: July 26 – August 1
- Week 7: August 2 – 8
Most sessions begin on Sunday afternoon and end on Saturday morning, unless otherwise indicated.
Program Schedule
Please note the program schedule may be subject to change by volunteer interest.
Please call us if you have any questions about our program schedule!
View the current availability.
Who Participates
Youth Groups
As an ecumenical Christian service program, SSP encourages middle and high school youth groups, adult groups, families, and individuals to participate. SSP fosters affirming spaces and welcomes volunteers of all backgrounds, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, and abilities. The only requirements to attend SSP are a willingness to serve and openness to new experiences.
No group is too small! One youth and one adult makes a group. Some churches send multiple groups to different SSP sessions due to their schedule limitations or because they have a large group.
Age of Participants
High School sessions: Youth entering 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade in fall 2020 and 2020 high school graduates are all welcome to participate.
Middle School sessions: Youth entering 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grade in fall 2020 are all welcome to participate. Youth entering 9th grade can participate in either high school or middle school sessions.
Combined High School and Middle School sessions: Youth entering 6th grade in fall 2020 through 2020 high school graduates are all welcome to participate.
Intergenerational sessions: All ages are welcome to participate, with the minimum age being youth entering the 6th grade in fall 2020.
Dedication to a Small Group Size
SSP is dedicated to creating a small group environment at our service projects, with an average of 60 participants each week. A smaller group creates a more intimate setting where youth are safe to grow in their faith, create many new friendships and experience love and acceptance. We intentionally mix the groups that come into different work teams which helps build community among groups.
Service Work
For the most part, we work on the homes in the communities we serve. The type of work includes roofing, building wheelchair ramps and porches, painting and other general home repairs. No construction experience is needed, and you’ll be amazed at all of the work that your youth teams complete!
Occasionally, our teams work on churches, community buildings, and schools in the communities that host us. In addition, we will sometimes participate in other types of community service activities like community gardens when there is a need and the work is appropriate for youth work teams.
Most projects take longer to complete than your week at SSP so you may see the beginning, middle or end of a project.
We upload photos regularly on our facebook page, follow us to stay connected!
Safety and Supervision
Safety of every type – physical, spiritual, and emotional – is our top priority. We want each youth to have the best possible experience so we create an environment dedicated to safety, adequate rest, nutritious meals and snacks, and lots of emotional and spiritual support.
Each week begins with hands-on tool training before anyone begins service work.
SSP Staff
Site locations are staffed by a team of mature young adults and are made of a Site Director, Spiritual Life Coordinator, three Construction Team members and two Food Service Coordinators. Three sites this summer will have an extra staff member. They are trained and present at the site for the entire summer, working with the community to provide quality service opportunities.
Staff participate in a ten-day training which consists of hands-on job specific training, sessions on leadership, conflict resolution, youth ministry, and cultural sensitivity among others. This training equips these young adults to be prepared for difficult situations that they may encounter over the summer.
Learn more about SSP’s young adult staff.
Vehicles
At site, groups will need to provide their own transportation to and from the work sites each day. Because work teams are composed of six to eight people, minivans and cars work best. Our policy and the law requires that seat belts be used by all occupants. 15-Passenger vans have been shown to be very unsafe. We strongly urge you not to use these vehicles.
Van Rental Information
SSP has been able to arrange for a special discounted rate with Enterprise Rent-A-Car for the rental of vans for your trip to SSP this summer. If you choose to take advantage of this, you need to remember that this arrangement is between you and Enterprise Rent-A-Car. SSP can take no responsibility for reservation problems or any other problems that might arise.
To take advantage of these rates
Call: 1-800-Rent-A-Car or 1-800-736-8222
Or visit www.enterprise.com
Corporate Account Number: 30C2900
On the Enterprise website, all on the first page, enter your dates and location as well as the Corporate Account Number under “Account Number.” This will give you the availability and rates for all vehicles.
Recommendation
Regardless of where you rent your vans, we strongly advise you to call one week ahead of your pick-up date and the day before to verify that your reservation is intact and your vehicles are there.
Fees
The fees cover all accommodations, meals, program supplies, building materials and tools, a T-shirt for each participant and supplemental health insurance (excess coverage only). Adult counselors have the same participation fee as youth volunteers.
Scholarships
In 2019, SSP awarded over $80,000 in scholarships to almost 500 participants in need. We hope to do the same in 2020. Our commitment is that no youth should be excluded from participating due to lack of financial means. Scholarship awards will be used to lower the second and final payment by the needed amount. Scholarship applications can be found on the downloads page.
2020 Summer Downloads
- 2020 Summer Information Packet (updated September 2019)
- 2020 Group Scholarship Application
- 2020 Summer Preparation Packet (updated February 2020)
Visit our downloads page for more resources.
2019 Counselor Training Handout
- Use alongside the online training course for first-time adult counselors
- Contains new resources for all adult counselors
Typical Daily Schedules
Most days at SSP consist of a full day of service work, team building activities, singing, sharing homemade meals together, reflecting on the experience, and a spiritual program centered around the summer theme.
While this a general template you can expect, the schedule may vary depending on site logistics.
High School
- 7:00 AM Wake up and get ready (the day may start earlier depending on the site and heat index)
- 7:30 AM Spiritual awakening (optional) to get centered for the day
- 8:00 AM Breakfast
- 8:30 AM Community service opportunities, lunch crew packs sandwiches, teams head to work site.
- 9:30 AM Arrive at work site, begin service work
- Noon Lunch and Spiritual Sandwiches (group discussion) at work site
- 1:00 PM Resume service work
- 4:00 PM Return to site, clean and store tools, shower, free time. Free time is spent at the location where we are housed and includes sports, crafts, cards, snacks and hanging out with new friends!
- 5:00 PM Staff/counselor meeting – adults meet with staff to discuss joys, concerns, and plans for the next 24 hours.
- 6:00 PM Dinner
- 6:30 PM Community service opportunities (cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms, etc.)
- 7:00 PM Song time and evening program – team building activities, mail, sharing work site reports, and spiritual programs related to our summer theme. At least one evening is always devoted to learning about the local community.
- 9:00 PM Free time. Volunteers prepare for bed.
- 9:45 PM Evening devotional led by a work team
- 10:00 PM Lights out. We have separate sleeping areas by gender. The work we do is hard labor and everyone needs to get a good night of sleep.
Middle School
- 7:00 AM Wake up and get ready (the day may start earlier depending on the site and heat index)
- 7:30 AM Energizers and morning program, which includes reflections by staff, energizing singing, and group building activities.
- 8:00 AM Breakfast
- 8:30 AM Community service opportunities, lunch crew packs sandwiches, teams head to work site.
- 9:30 AM Arrive at work site, begin service work
- Noon Lunch and Spiritual Sandwiches (group discussion) at work site
- 1:00 PM Resume service work
- 3:00 PM Return to site, clean and store tools, shower, free time. Free time is spent at the location where we are housed and includes sports, crafts, cards, snacks, and hanging out!
- 4:00 PM Staff/counselor meeting – adults meet with staff to discuss joys, concerns, and plans for the next 24 hours.
- 5:00 PM Song time, work site reports, and handing out mail.
- 5:45 PM Dinner
- 6:15 PM Community service opportunities (cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms, etc.)
- 7:00 PM Evening program – team building activities and spiritual programs related to our summer theme. At least one evening is always devoted to learning about the local community.
- 8:00 PM Free time. Volunteers prepare for bed.
- 9:00 PM Evening devotional led by a work team
- 9:30 PM Lights out. We have separate sleeping areas by gender. The work we do is hard labor and everyone needs to get a good night’s sleep.
Combined Program Changes:
- 3-4:00 PM Middle school teams return earlier than high school teams. Free time is spent at the location where we are housed. There will be optional guided games and activities for youth.
- 8:30 PM Free time. Volunteers prepare for bed.
- 9:00 PM Optional Evening Devotional led by a work team
- 10:00 PM Lights out. We have separate sleeping areas for each age group to allow for earlier bedtimes if desired, as well by gender.
Sample Weekly Schedule
While this a general template you can expect, the schedule may vary depending on site logistics.
High School, Combined, & Intergenerational Programs
Sunday
Arrive 2:00 to 4:00 PM, orientation, staff / adult counselor meeting, assign work teams
Monday
Hands-on tool training, half day service at work site, evening program
Tuesday
Service at work site all day, cross-cultural evening program
Wednesday
Adventure Wednesday: community service activity as a full group or activities to learn about the site location, recreation in the afternoon and BBQ dinner, evening program
Thursday
Service at work site all day, off-site evening program
Friday
Service at work site all day, closing celebrations
Saturday
Pack up, clean site, receive bookmark with website to take online evaluation survey, breakfast, closing circle, depart.
Middle School Program
Sunday
Arrive 2:00 to 4:00 PM, orientation, staff / adult counselor meeting, assign work teams
Monday
Hands-on tool training, half day service at work site, evening program
Tuesday
Service at work site all day, cross-cultural evening program
Wednesday
Service at work site all day, evening program
Thursday
Adventure Thursday: half day of service, afternoon water play, BBQ dinner, slide show.
Friday
Pack up, clean site, receive bookmark with website to take online evaluation survey, breakfast, closing circle, depart.