This organization was designed as a volunteer-based group back in 1965, and it later became a part of AmeriCorps in the early ’90s. If fighting poverty and helping fellow Americans is something that you would like to be a part of, then this is the group that can give you that opportunity. As a member of a VISTA team, you will need to make a year commitment to volunteer for job placement with a non-profit or government agency that focuses on improving and strengthening communities and empowering citizens. Today almost seven thousand VISTA workers enter this service area annually.
Workers with AmeriCorps VISTA will reside and work with some of the poorest residents in our country. They will find problems and concerns that they can actually solve or at least improve upon. Part of the work of these volunteers is to design programs that can make life better for many people who have lived in poverty all of their lives. While you are a volunteer during this year of committed service, you will receive a small amount of money for your personal living needs, and will have healthcare coverage and benefits. At the end of your year of service, you can choose a $1,200 stipend or elect to receive an educational allowance of $4,725.
Jobs that are being done by these volunteer workers do not just concentrate on the services that involve direct client involvement like teaching, tutoring, or construction. The public interest opportunities that are tackled by VISTA members are focused on creating organizations that can offer health services, decrease illiteracy, and empower the residents of poverty-stricken communities.
The programs that VISTA workers become involved in work to train community volunteers to apply for grants and establish community-based improvement programs that are designed for success. As a VISTA volunteer, you might be given a job opportunity that makes you responsible for helping design a campaign that targets the need for low-cost, quality daycare and for finding people who can help find an affordable solution.
The purpose of VISTA is to use volunteers to help empower community organizations so they can succeed. Workers often help communities that are trying to create halfway houses, homeless shelters, and disaster centers. Helping advertise programs that work to get affordable health insurance for children and families throughout the nation is also part of a VISTA worker’s duties. Recruiting and training volunteers to act as mentors for many disadvantaged children is a vital component of a VISTA program’s mission statement.
There are different requirements that must be met for participation in these public interest opportunities and programs. In order to volunteer for AmeriCorps VISTA you must be a lawful permanent resident of the United States, a United States citizen, or a United States national, and you must be able to function as part of a team.
You will find that most of these programs do prefer that applicants have a college degree, although retired persons and others with a minimum of three years of active work experience will also be eligible. The minimum age for most of the programs is 17, and there is no upper-age exclusion, which means that this is a wonderful opportunity for people who have retired. There is a background and criminal check performed on each applicant in order to make sure that the clients and other members are not put at risk.
Many new VISTA volunteers were faced with crucial tests that occurred after the Hurricane Katrina disaster and they met the challenges with professionalism and strength of character. A volunteer moment may include packing and distributing sacks of groceries to hungry families, or it could include handing out fliers to encourage support for a new community center or activity. Whether the tasks you are given are large or small, knowing that you are working with a team will help provide you with the assistance and support that you need to do the best that you can in each instance.
There is much useful experience that workers and VISTA volunteers gain throughout their year of service, but there are even more changes that they will go through. The interaction with many of those who live in the targeted communities will teach many valuable lessons that could not have been learned through any other means. You will find out much more about the resilience, ingenuity, and kindness of other people than you thought possible.
Many volunteers describe their service time as being extremely worthwhile, with many exciting and fun opportunities that let them learn more about others as well as themselves. There are many challenging moments, but being a VISTA volunteer is one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments where you can look back and see how important even many of your smallest contributions really were. You can choose an assignment that is located near your own community and begin to make a difference in the world today.
