Dissecting my job: What is VISTA?

Let's start with the basics, because I didn't really have a grasp of what VISTA was until I went to the Pre-Service Orientation in Chicago.

Official VISTA logo

VISTA stands for Volunteers in Service to America. I often tell people it's like a domestic Peace Corps program--both have the goal of making the world a more peaceful place to live but Peace Corps is international and VISTA is in the USA. Founded in 1964 by President Kennedy, VISTA takes volunteers with a college degree, pays them a small living stipend, and places them for a one-year stint in projects that are designed to fight poverty. VISTA projects range from working with refugees to working with Native American reservations to working in local communities to link people up with the apropriate resources (mental, monetary, medical, etc).

www.americorps.gov

VISTA is a subprogram of Americorps (hence the proper name of Americorps*VISTA, though I have also seen it referred to as *VISTA). Americorps also pays volunteers for service, but there is a crucial difference between the two programs. Americorps is for direct service, which is actually working with people and completing one-time tasks. Examples include tutoring, weeding, and grant writing. VISTA is about capacity building, which puts infrastructure into place that lets the Americorps people do their job. In includes doing all the behind the scenes work to keep a program running. It includes doing all the behind the scenes work--training, program development, networking, planning and all those other good things. When I help someone fill out a food stamp form it is direct service; when I train someone on how to help people fill out food stamp forms it is capacity building. To relate it to that famous fish quote: VISTA is about teaching people to fish so they can eat for life, not giving them fish so they may eat once.

How all this relates to me

VISTA pays my living stipend. For my VISTA project, I am fighting poverty by working as a Benefit Bank counselor to help people sign up for government benefits like Food Stamps and Medicaid. I am working on the capacity building part by training other Benefit Bank counselors, building new connections in the community and Oberlin College, and leaving behind plans for what to do when I'm gone--all of which I am able to do because of the infrastructure that Claudine, the previous VISTA, is leaving me.

I'm off to observe a Benefit Bank training so I can do it myself,
Ondrea
Americorps*VISTA, BCSL Enthusiast