Full-Time Service: Amate House fellows are expected to serve an average of 40 hours per week. Fellows should start work at their service sites on August 9, 2027, and complete their service term on June 10, 2027.

Service to those in need in Chicago: The site must serve a community that would benefit from the assistance of a fellow in providing its service or ministry. The site must clearly demonstrate its service to people at or below the poverty level or to a defined marginalized population. The site must also be working within Chicago city limits or in the adjacent suburbs.

Direct Service or Community Involvement: The site must offer a placement and job description involving at least 80% direct service/ministry or direct community involvement (as opposed to clerical tasks). Direct service is an activity that addresses education, health, public safety, the environment, or other human needs. Direct service means working directly with people (clients, beneficiaries, communities, etc.) to make a tangible impact. It can include outreach, case management, training, teaching, tutoring, mediating, counseling, recruiting volunteers, completing administrative tasks that support client care, preparing for class, coaching, listening, cooking, serving, and providing healthcare, food, or clothing. Fellows may also perform capacity-building activities as direct service that improve the organizational and financial capability of nonprofit organizations and communities to meet those local needs by achieving greater organizational efficiency and effectiveness, greater impact and quality of impact, stronger likelihood of successful replicability, or expanded scale. Examples of capacity-building activities include but are not limited to:

enlisting, training, or coordinating volunteers;
conducting outreach & securing resources in support of service activities that meet specific needs in the community;
conducting research, mapping community assets, or gathering other information that will strengthen the sponsoring organization’s ability to meet community needs;
developing organizational systems to improve efficiency and effectiveness (not clerical work).

Please note: as a program of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, Amate Housefellows cannot distribute contraception or teach students or clients about how to use it.

Detailed Position Description: The site must prepare and submit a detailed position description as part of the site application. This description shall identify a position title and general duties and responsibilities specific to the fellow at their site. Sites with multiple positions available must provide a detailed description of each position. It is expected that these position descriptions will not change significantly without consultation with Amate House and the fellow. If for some reason significant changes do occur to a position, the Amate House program formation coordinator must be notified as soon as possible.

Flexibility: The site must be willing to be listed as a possible service option on the Amate House service site list and participate in the interviewing of potential fellows without a guarantee of having a fellow. Due to our site placement process, which requires that both the site and the fellow mutually agree to a placement, it is possible that a site may not receive an Amate House fellow every year.

Site Supervisor Orientation: All site supervisors are required to attend an orientation meeting in summer 2027. At this meeting, Amate House program staff will present a calendar for the year (including dates that fellows will need to be excused from work), policies and procedures, and discuss best practices for supporting and working with the fellows.

Orientation/Onboarding: A comprehensive orientation for the fellow must be planned and implemented by the site supervisor or other staff members upon the fellow’s arrival in August. Onboarding should include introducing the fellow to their coworkers, orientation to daily duties and responsibilities, clarifying expectations for the year, reviewing any applicable organizational policies that the fellow will be expected to follow, instructions on how to request vacation and sick days, and discussion of any modifications to the original position description.

Supervision: The site agrees to provide a direct supervisor who will provide ongoing support and development of the fellow. The site supervisor identified must be committed to the terms outlined in this document and be willing to work with Amate House staff in supporting the fellow and their experience in the program. Site supervisors are expected to meet formally with the fellow on an ongoing basis to discuss performance, concerns, needs, challenges, and goals. Amate House strongly recommends biweekly supervision meetings. For school sites that list the principal as the site supervisor, or any site where the listed site supervisor will not have time to meet regularly with the fellow, Amate House requires assigning an additional teacher or staff mentor for the fellow. This mentor should be introduced to the fellow upon their arrival to their site.

Workspace: An adequate workspace must be identified at the school or organization where the fellow serves.

Site Visits: The site supervisor and fellow should be available to meet twice a year with an Amate House staff member. These meetings provide an opportunity to reflect on the fellow’s experience of service and ensure that the fellow is receiving adequate support.

Professional Growth/Leadership Development: The site must show an interest in providing opportunities for the personal and professional growth and leadership development of the fellow.

A Financial Commitment: The site must be able to pay a site contribution in exchange for the services of a fellow. These contributions assist Amate House in providing housing, food, health insurance, and other resources for our fellows. The standard site contribution is $23,750 per fellow, per program year. Sites that require fellows with specialized degrees or licensure (i.e., Nursing, Physical Therapy, LCSW) will be asked to contribute $26,800. Please note that the site contribution is subject to change, with ample notice from Amate House. For fellows with scheduled remote hours of two or more days a week, there is an additional $125 work-from-home fee for the year. This fee covers expenses needed to maintain the fellows’ remote workspaces.

Amate House Commitments: In addition to full-time service, fellows live in intentional community and participate in faith formation throughout the program year. These commitments include weekday community dinners, Wednesday evening community nights, fall and winter retreats, and three in-service days throughout the year. Sites are expected to work with their fellow and the Amate House staff to ensure the fellow’s full participation in the program experience, including early dismissals or excused absences when necessary.

Work Hours: Amate House fellows are expected to serve an average of 40 hours per week. Evening hours extending past 7:00 pm should not occur more than once per week. Due to the weekly community night commitment, fellows are expected to arrive at their home no later than 4:30 pm on Wednesdays. Additionally, fellows should not work more than one weekend per month, and for those sites that require regular weekend hours, a fellow should not be required to work more than one day per weekend. If a site requires the fellow to work outside of these parameters, it should be discussed with the program formation coordinator and clearly expressed in the position description and during the fellow interview.

Vacation/Sick Time: The site must allow the fellow10 days of vacation and three sick days during the service year. In addition, fellows are allotted one day off to recruit on behalf of Amate House. This may coincide with preexisting breaks (such as Christmas vacation for schools). Amate House asks that the fellow not be granted more than 14 days off total, regardless of the organization’s policies; sick days are only used for illness and cannot be transferred to vacation days. Supervisors should notify their fellow at their orientation of the policies of the organization for requesting vacation time or reporting sick time. The site assumes the financial risk if the fellow, for medical or personal reasons (death of an immediate family member), is absent for more than the allotted 14 days. Fellows should not be expected to use vacation days for the following holidays: Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Easter, and Memorial Day. If the nature of the site’s work would require the fellow to work any of these holidays, that expectation should be communicated during site interviews.

Transportation: Amate House provides fellows with transportation via Amate House vehicles, carpooling with other Amate House fellows, or monthly CTA passes. The site must reimburse Amate House for use of Amate House vehicles for work purposes at the current federal reimbursement rate (ex: travel within the course of the workday to a meeting or different site). This does NOT include transportation to and from work. Sites must also reimburse Amate House for a fellow’s regular use of Amate House CTA passes within the workday (ex: traveling via bus or ‘L’ to another work site within the workday). Again, this does NOT include transportation to and from work. Please note that Amate House does not permit fellows to transport clients in Amate House vehicles.

Conflict Mediation/Termination: After a fellow and site have signed their respective agreements, a fellow's decision to quit that site or a site's decision to terminate a fellow must be done in consultation with the site supervisor and the Amate House program formation coordinator. The fellow and site supervisor are expected to make a good faith effort to resolve conflicts directly, if they arise. If necessary, the Amate House program coordinator will attempt to mediate any persistent conflicts, working toward an agreeable resolution for all parties involved. In the case of a fellow-site relationship that is terminated for any reason, it is expected that a pro-rated site contribution will be made to Amate House for the service rendered up to the point of the termination.

COVID-19: Amate House has made a number of adjustments to minimize the risk to our fellows and the communities they serve, including smaller living communities, regular testing of the fellows, hybrid programming, and limiting CTA use. We have detailed protocols outlined for the fellows in the event that someone is exposed to COVID-19 or tests positive for the virus. The protocols are regularly updated to stay current with the CDC’s recommendations. Fellows for the 2026-2027 program year will also be required to be fully vaccinated and boosted unless they have a medical or religious exemption.

Diversity and Inclusion: Amate House is committed to anti-racism, diversity and inclusion, and expects our site partners to share these values.

Site Partner Application