Communities Thriving VISTA Program

Host an Americorps VISTA Member through Community-Engaged Alliance

In the Communities Thriving VISTA program, a college will partner with a nonprofit, school, or government agency to address a poverty-related issue during the year of service. It will be in one of the priority areas of AmeriCorps VISTA and will use national performance measures to demonstrate the outcomes. Some college & community partnerships will engage two VISTA members, one serving at the college and one serving in the community agency. In these cases, the two members will help each other navigate the other organization so that the partnership can better integrate resources and networks to have strong outcomes in the community. The VISTA member(s) will create (or support an existing) local community committee that will take the lead in determining the approach to address the identified poverty-related issue in the community.

AmeriCorps VISTA priority areas include:

Economic Opportunity
Healthy Futures
Education
Veterans and Military Families
Environmental Stewardship
Priority Populations: Rural Communities, Indian Country, and areas of deep poverty.

Onboarding & Training

As part of their onboarding, the VISTA members will be trained in a variety of dialogue techniques so that they can determine the best approach for convening and leading their committee. The members of the committee (college and community) will be learning the dialogue and action strategies so that they will be able to continue the work after the VISTA has finished with service. Over the three years of service, each VISTA member will help train and support college and community members to take the lead in sustaining the work into the future.

Communities Thriving will have two in-person trainings for all the VISTA members and their site supervisors. The first training will cover the goals of the program, AmeriCorps 101, prohibited activities, using America Learns, facilitation skills, team building, and change strategies. The second training will be a mid-year event to help recharge members in the middle of their service year when enthusiasm sometimes fades.

Member Institution Benefits

Low-cost, full-time capacity building support
Improved relationship with community partners
Dedicated personnel for community collaboration
CEA manages AmeriCorps paperwork
CEA provided supervisory support
CEA provides your VISTA member with ongoing training and professional development
Your VISTA shares your campuses work with a state and national network
Your VISTA learns from a network of others around the state and nation

On-going Support

Community-Engaged Alliance (CEA) will have an AmeriCorps VISTA leader on staff to support each of the VISTAs, have weekly check-in calls, host regular virtual meetings for all VISTA members to share ideas, outcomes, and challenges, and visit VISTA sites throughout the year to provide additional support, training, and professional development for the VISTA’s.

Each VISTA placed within Indiana will also be invited to attend CEA events and gatherings.

Become a Communities Thriving VISTA Volunteer

Key Responsibilities*

Capacity-building, including:
Strengthening and supporting organizations and college/university outreach efforts
Building infrastructure that supports anti-poverty initiatives
Expanding campus-community partnerships
Securing long-term resources and seeking sustainable solutions
Developing and sharing helpful resources benefits and tools
Coordinating projects
Recruiting volunteers

*May include but are not limited to this list. More details are available during interviews.

Benefits

AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program founded in 1965 that fights poverty by placing members in non-profit and public agencies for one-year, full-time service. Members build capacity through indirect service rather than direct service, earning a modest living allowance ($983.36 biweekly living allowance before taxes), health benefits, and a choice of a Segal Education Award ($7,395) or end-of-service stipend ($1,800).

More Information

Communities Thriving program contact: Cynthia Tindongan at cynthia@engagedalliance.org

Vista volunteer application