Celebrating 50 Years of Americorps VISTA

This year AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Often described as a domestic version of the Peace Corps, the VISTA program has engaged thousands of citizens in the fight against poverty since the first volunteers began service in 1965. To honor the occasion, VISTAs past and present gathered in Greensboro, North Carolina on June 20th for a day of service, reflection, and fellowship.

Over 60 people came to the Lifespan Creative Campus for the celebration. Lifespan is a nonprofit organization that provides education, employment, and enrichment opportunities to empower children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live, work and play in their communities.

VISTA alumni and members whose service spanned the 1960s to the present day worked  together at the Lifespan Creative Campus. The campus includes a garden, walking paths, and gazebo for Lifespan clients to enjoy. Participants in the service painted garden picnic tables, weeded the walkway, and cleaned the gazebo area.

The service project was followed by a luncheon and remarks from VISTAs past and present. The keynote speaker, Joseph Bathanti, served as VISTA in Charlotte, NC from 1976-1977. Bathanti worked with prison inmates, teaching writing, developing relationships, and ensuring that prisoners would be successful after their release.

Mr. Bathanti's experience as a VISTA heavily influenced his personal and creative life. He met his wife Joan, a fellow VISTA, working the same project, and joked that he likes "to tell people I met my wife in prison." A Pittsburgh native, Bathanti went on to become North Carolina Poet Laureate; he now teaches creative writing at Appalachian State University. Mr. Bathathi read poems from a collection titled "Concertina," a reference to the swirling wire that tops prison fences. His reflections on service reminded us why VISTA is such powerful and transformative experience. 

Mr. Bathanti's remarks were followed by VISTA alumnus K'aia Clarke who served with MDC in Durham from 2012-2014 and current VISTA member Leah Parks who serves at the Lifespan Creative Campus. Together the speakers made a strong case for the value of national service, not just for its cost-effective impact in communities but also for the opportunity these assignments provide to the individuals who accept them. Nationwide coalitions like Service Nation and the Franklin Project are working to preserve AmeriCorps VISTA and other service programs in the face of recent efforts to reduce or eliminate these programs.

Among the VISTA projects participating in the event were current and former members and staff from NC Campus Compact, Peacehaven Farm, Welfare Reform Liaison Project, Fayetteville State University's Office of College Access, and the Collaborative.

The day was organized by the NC state office of the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Announcing the 2015-16 VISTA Partnership Project Host Sites

We are excited to announce our 2015-16 North Carolina Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA host sites and placements! We are wrapping up recruitment of VISTAs for the new cohort, so please stay tuned to meet our new members in August.

Community Empowerment Fund (CEF)

Partner: UNC Chapel Hill
Focus Area: Economic Opportunity

The Community Empowerment Fund (CEF) cultivates opportunities, assets, and communities that support the alleviation of homelessness and poverty. CEF is a student-led nonprofit organization based at UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University. CEF’s structure is based on the realization of a dual mission: empowering members to sustain transitions out of homelessness and developing student leadership. At CEF the VISTA will help address the need for 1) relationship- based support that leads to greater economic opportunity for individuals experiencing or at-risk of experiencing homelessness; 2) access to financial services for low-income households, and; 3) a broader, more tightly-woven social safety net for poor households in North Carolina. The goal of this project is to increase the capacity and effectiveness of CEF’s Advocate Program.

Duke University, Community Service Center

Partner: Durham County Library
Focus Area: Education

The Duke Community Service Center (CSC) serves as a clearinghouse of volunteer opportunities available to Duke students and employees. The VISTA will help the Duke Community Service Center (CSC) further deepen relationships with partner schools and community agencies through a new program - Partners in Print (Print Pals). Print Pals is a family literacy program aimed at Latino parents and children here in Durham area. The program will provide a supportive environment where parents can discover how to help their children learn to read. Print Pal mentors will conduct evening workshops with parents and children, grades Kindergarten-2nd.  The VISTA will also coordinate Print Pals sessions and volunteers, as well as complementary CSC events and programs that align with the Partners in Print Program, including National Make a Difference Day, Dive Into Durham alternative spring break, and Dr. Seuss Day.

East Carolina University, Volunteer and Service Learning Center (VSLC)

Two VISTA members will be hosted by East Carolina University’s Volunteer and Service-Learning Center (VSLC). In addition to the campus and community-based work below, these members will support campus and community-wide day of service events, including MLK Day of Service.

Partner: West Greenville community agencies
Focus Area: Education

The VISTA will be hosted by the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center (VSLC). This VISTA project will capitalize on the strengths of East Carolina University (most notably its strong mission-based emphasis on service and community engagement) and the west Greenville community, specifically Third Street Community Center and Lucille W. Gorham Inter-Generational Community Center (IGCC). The VISTA will build the capacity for both TSCC and IGCC to address community needs related to education and youth development for K-8 low-income youth and families, provide services to local community members, and strengthen the west Greenville community partnerships and community as a whole.

Partner: Greenville Harvest
Focus Area: Healthy Futures

The VISTA will be hosted by the Department of Nutrition Science. VISTA will work to build relationships and help support reciprocal benefits among the Greenville community, specifically through Greenville Harvest partners, a local network of community gardens and affiliated agencies. The VISTA will support collaboration and partnership development among network partners, including the university. The VISTA will plan and deploy consistent multi-generational community engagement activities centered on healthy lifestyles and healthy communities.

Feast Down East
Partner: UNC Wilmington, Public Sociology Department

Focus Area: Healthy Futures

Feast Down East (FDE) is a university affiliated non-profit with a mission to join institutions, community-based agencies, farmers, and businesses to support, coordinate and expand the production, processing, distribution, and consumption of local foods. The VISTA placement supports FDE’s Food Sovereignty Program, which brings fresh, local produce via weekly fresh markets and produce boxes to four Wilmington Housing Authority neighborhoods. In addition to bringing fresh produce to these identified food deserts, the Food Sovereignty program engages resident leaders and UNCW volunteers in the operation and promotion of the markets, supports nutrition/garden programs for both adults and children. The VISTA will continue to oversee and improve the markets, train resident leaders and volunteers, and work with partner organizations including the WHA to plan for sustainability.

High Point University, Service Learning Program

Three VISTAs will be hosted by High Point University’s Service Learning Program, which is home to the Bonner Leaders Program. In addition to their community-based work described below, the VISTAs will help develop trainings and supports for Bonner students who also serve with local agencies. The VISTA will also help energize campus and community members to participate in the MLK Day of Service.

Partner: West End Ministries
Focus Area: Healthy Futures

This VISTA’s work will take place on campus and in the community with West End Ministries (WEM), a non-profit agency that provides services such as emergency assistance and adult life skill classes. The VISTA will improve WEM's volunteer coordination and training systems to support the agency's emergency assistance program. The VISTA will also help make healthy food more available to WEM clients by developing a community garden with local stakeholders.

Partner: Washington St. Project
Focus Area(s): Healthy Futures, Education

Two VISTA members will work with the Washington St. Project, emphasizing local food security and youth development. One VISTA will create and execute a neighborhood food plan, including a needs analysis and asset mapping to increase resident access to healthy foods through community gardening and a fresh market.  The second VISTA will work to grow local afterschool enrichment programs, including a community writing center, and to increase other educational programs for residents.

Hospitality House of Boone

Partner: Appalachian State University, ACT Office
Focus Area: Economic Opportunity

Hospitality House of Boone serves people at-risk of or experiencing homelessness in Watauga County. The goal of the VISTA project is to strengthen the Welcome Home Thriftique store, which provides an earned income funding source for Hospitality House, acts as a resource for services to meet client needs and serves as a job skills training site for residents and outreach clients. The VISTA will lead all aspects of Thriftique operation, including volunteer management, and will continue development of a job skills training program. To carry out these activities, the VISTA will also collaborate with the Appalachian State University ACT Office.

Marian Cheek Jackson Center

Partner: UNC-Chapel Hill, Communications Studies
Focus Areas: Economic Opportunity, Education

The Jackson Center is a community-based advocacy organization serving historically African-American and low-income neighborhoods in Chapel Hill through public history, civic media, and community action. The center will host two VISTAs to support its work. The Community Organizing and Advocacy VISTA will support the development of Jackson Center programs that serve the housing and economic needs of local low-income residents. Key activities include the maintenance and expansion of service partnerships with university units (including the Communications Studies department), enhancement of community programs to serve housing needs, volunteer recruitment and coordination, database maintenance, and the development of new neighborhood advocacy networks to pair long-term residents with students and community advocates. The Education VISTA will strengthen ongoing partnerships with 6 area schools to implement “Learning Here and Now Across Generations” -- a curriculum aligned with NC course of study standards to focus on civil rights, oral history, and cross-generational education-- designed to engage and support learning of at-risk students. The VISTA will connect with university experts and develop a cadre of resident educators.

NC State University, Raleigh College Center (RCC)

Partner: NCSU, TRIO Program
Focus Area: Education

At NC State, the VISTA will be hosted by the TRIO Program, which is in the division of Academic Programs and Services, the lead office in the Raleigh Colleges and Community Collaborative (RCCC). The VISTA will work to support the continued development of the Raleigh College Center project, an effort to deliver post-secondary programs and resources at the community level. The VISTA will coordinate services and programs at the existing College Center site and seek to expand the model to other partner agencies. The VISTA will continue to catalog assets at RCCC partner campuses, conduct outreach and track participants, engage volunteers, and coordinate programs, with a view toward transitioning coordination of the center to other partners.

UNC-Greensboro, Degrees Matter!

Partner: Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro             
Focus Area: Education

Degrees Matter! is a collaborative initiative working to find and assist the more than 67,000 residents of Guilford County who have some college but have yet to complete a degree or certification. Degrees Matter! is leading the effort to reach the community-wide goal of adding, by 2025, 40,000 new degree holders in the county. The VISTA placement will focus on outreach and partnership development by increasing connections to key constituencies and organizations, including childcare and early education providers, faith-based groups, and agencies providing services to low-income individuals. The VISTA will also develop outreach materials and volunteer training materials to better prepare partner organizations to address access to/completion of post-secondary education with clients. Finally, the VISTA will conduct community presentations and events, including supporting a statewide event focusing on the completion issue and best practices in supporting “comebackers.”

UNC-Greensboro, Office of Leadership and Service-Learning

Partner: Backpack Beginnings
Focus Area: Healthy Futures

At UNC-Greensboro, the VISTA member will be hosted by the Office and Leadership and Service-Learning, which serves as a catalyst for the development of experiential curricular and co-curricular leadership and service-learning initiatives. The VISTA will focus on food insecurity and access to healthy food in Guilford County by supporting a developing partnership with Backpack Beginnings, by supporting an emerging on-campus Food Security Network, and by increasing awareness of food security issues on campus and in the community.

Wake Forest University, Pro Humanitate Institute

Partner: Shalom Project
Focus Areas: Economic Opportunity, Healthy Futures

Two VISTAs will be hosted by the Pro Humanitate Institute.  The Food Access VISTA member will create a strategic plan for nutritional education, write nutrition education materials for community partners, and connect with local programs serving women and children. This VISTA will also support expansion of the Campus Kitchen project, including the addition of new meal delivery sites and an evaluation tool for use by community partner sites. The Economic Empowerment VISTA will map existing programs and conduct a needs assessment of economic empowerment programs in Winston-Salem; recruit and train skilled volunteers for work in financial literacy and employment preparation; build capacity within CIRCLES NC by identifying and connecting the organization with new partners; and enhance economic empowerment programs through grant writing.

Western Carolina University

Partner: The Community Table
Focus Area: Healthy Futures

The goal for this VISTA project is to strengthen relationships between Western Carolina University, the Community Table, the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Program (ASAP) and the Local Food and Farm to School Education Program; to build capacity at the Community Table and ASAP/LFFSEP, and to raise awareness about food insecurity in Western NC. The project aims to provide the Community Table and ASAP/LFFSEP with the food resources necessary to meet their customers’ needs, to train and manage volunteers, and to enhance publicity and outreach efforts. The project is also intended to increase awareness of food insecurity issues on campus and in the wider community.

AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service.