In honor of Americorps Week (May 9-16), I invite you all to share your experience as a VISTA, and to partake in collectively celebrating our impact!
In 2008, AmeriCorps members served over 4,000 nonprofit and community based organizations. During that time, AmeriCorps members mobilized over 2 million volunteers – that’s the equivalent of the entire state of Hawaii donating their time to invest in their community.
As a VISTA Fellow for the Taproot Foundation, I am afforded the opportunity to celebrate and promote the impact of strategic volunteerism at nonprofits every day. The VISTA program asks over 6,000 citizens a year to donate time and skills to build the capacity of nonprofits fighting issues of poverty. The opportunity for impact is easy to forget when you're eating Ramen 3 times a day, but let me remind you of the very real impact we make: in 2007, 110 community volunteers per VISTA were mobilized, generating in 74 million hours served by volunteers. An average VISTA will raise at least $25,000 in cash or in-kind resources for their sponsor during their service. And to top it off, VISTAs have played a key role in establishing some of the best-known anti-poverty programs and nonprofits, including Head Start, Upward Bound, and the credit union system. Next time you're debating between the beef or chicken Ramen, remind yourself of your significant role in improving the nonprofit sector.
Why, exactly, do nonprofits matter? The entire nonprofit sector accounts for 8% of wages paid in the US and 5% of the national GDP, with over $2 trillion in assets. If the sector were a country, it would have the seventh largest economy in the world. This small ‘country’ of nonprofits is actively improving the quality of life for people across the U.S., delivering much needed services, improving government policies, solving our environmental challenges, nurturing arts and culture, and engaging people in the communities in which they live. This is a story we’re really just beginning to tell, and at the start of any good narrative, the players should be introduced.
Who are you? Why are you doing AmeriCorps VISTA? What have you accomplished or learned during your service? As AmeriCorps and public service take the national spotlight, let’s create a time capsule capturing what it means to be a full-time volunteer today. If you are a VISTA, if you’ve been a VISTA, if you sponsor a VISTA or if a VISTA has made a difference in your life, please share something: a story, a thought, a video, a quote, a recommendation, a picture, a note of gratitude. Act as if what we do makes a difference; it does.
In 2008, AmeriCorps members served over 4,000 nonprofit and community based organizations. During that time, AmeriCorps members mobilized over 2 million volunteers – that’s the equivalent of the entire state of Hawaii donating their time to invest in their community.
As a VISTA Fellow for the Taproot Foundation, I am afforded the opportunity to celebrate and promote the impact of strategic volunteerism at nonprofits every day. The VISTA program asks over 6,000 citizens a year to donate time and skills to build the capacity of nonprofits fighting issues of poverty. The opportunity for impact is easy to forget when you're eating Ramen 3 times a day, but let me remind you of the very real impact we make: in 2007, 110 community volunteers per VISTA were mobilized, generating in 74 million hours served by volunteers. An average VISTA will raise at least $25,000 in cash or in-kind resources for their sponsor during their service. And to top it off, VISTAs have played a key role in establishing some of the best-known anti-poverty programs and nonprofits, including Head Start, Upward Bound, and the credit union system. Next time you're debating between the beef or chicken Ramen, remind yourself of your significant role in improving the nonprofit sector.
Why, exactly, do nonprofits matter? The entire nonprofit sector accounts for 8% of wages paid in the US and 5% of the national GDP, with over $2 trillion in assets. If the sector were a country, it would have the seventh largest economy in the world. This small ‘country’ of nonprofits is actively improving the quality of life for people across the U.S., delivering much needed services, improving government policies, solving our environmental challenges, nurturing arts and culture, and engaging people in the communities in which they live. This is a story we’re really just beginning to tell, and at the start of any good narrative, the players should be introduced.
Who are you? Why are you doing AmeriCorps VISTA? What have you accomplished or learned during your service? As AmeriCorps and public service take the national spotlight, let’s create a time capsule capturing what it means to be a full-time volunteer today. If you are a VISTA, if you’ve been a VISTA, if you sponsor a VISTA or if a VISTA has made a difference in your life, please share something: a story, a thought, a video, a quote, a recommendation, a picture, a note of gratitude. Act as if what we do makes a difference; it does.
I joined AmeriCorps because I love our country. Often times when people think of full-time volunteering they think of the Peace Corps. Which is a great program! However, I am of the belief that there are enough problems with poverty, injustice, and access to health care in our own country. We, as a people, need to fortify America. Give back to America in the most selfless way possible. We give up our time, our lives, our homes, our friends, our family, and sometimes, our pets, to serve the country and the greater good. As AmeriCorps service members, we are paving the way to the future of this country. In the small ways that we impact our local community, and in the large ways that we impact quality of life all across our nation. Some of us may be unappreciated, poor, stressed out, and worked to the bone, but we do it because we are committed to a better future. We are the epitome of "be the change."
ReplyDeleteSome of the most incredible people I have met and worked with over the past year at the Taproot Foundation have served or are currently serving as AmeriCorps VISTAs. This is such an amazing program, particularly for the types of people spanning all backgrounds, ages, interests, skillsets, and political values it brings together. Moreover, as VISTAs, we are responsible for running --or more accurately, creating programs-- recruiting and mobilizing volunteers, generating resources, and exploring the most innovative ways to get things done. In essence, we're using our most precious resources we have to bring to bear : our professional skills and talents and expertise. It has been an honor and a tremendous opportunity to spend a year giving back in this way while reaping the rewards of feeling challenged and stimulated and prepared for whatever comes next in my career. My VISTA role has been fulfilling in a different way than direct volunteer service, and I would encourage so many more of my peers to pursue their goals through a year of VISTA service. What an awesome program-- cheers to all you VISTAs and AmeriCorps members out there and for all you do!
ReplyDeleteI spent one year as a VISTA and then, after a year off, came back for another year as a VISTA Leader... am I crazy?! No, just in love! I am convinced that AmeriCorps in general, and the VISTA program specifically, is one of the best possible ways for people of all ages to do the following:
ReplyDelete1. Figure out what they want to do with their lives.
2. Learn a lot about our country, and maybe parts of that country they have never experienced before.
3. Get an amazing introduction or further training in the nonprofit field.
4. Truly MAKE A DIFFERENCE- this isn't lip service, kids, it's on-the-ground, see-the-results, change-some-lives volunteer service!
THANK YOU to all VISTA and AmeriCorps volunteers around the country for the important, meaningful work you do!
"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."
ReplyDelete~Albert Einstein
That sums it up for me. As VISTAs we are certainly in this to have an experience...a personal quest of sorts that is unique for all of us depending on our respective paths. However, VISTAs exhibit a certain willingness to put themselves squarely in challenging circumstances as a result of a strong instinct that we are trying to serve something much larger. All of this accomplished with a degree of humility that is all too rare.
VISTAs are a phenomenal group, and our country is very lucky.