VISTA will educate kids and community volunteers about issues in their watersheds and provide the tools to implement positive actions to restore their watersheds and improve economic opportunity. The overall focus will be to build capacity of WaterWays so we may not only increase environmental and watershed awareness, but also to increase community engagement to empower students/community members to put in place positive actions for problems that they discover in their watersheds. Improved waterways through local action will also improve health and education for the community, thereby reducing poverty. Some of this will be through improved communications and outreach. Our first goal is to increase organizational capacity by improving our communication/ organizational system. Volunteers are essential to grassroots community action and this project will help us focus on supporting our volunteers better! Our second goal is to expand our outreach to communities and schools to engage more volunteers. A very focused third goal is to increase youth training for students at high poverty schools. While direct engagement of these students is meaningful, we think that having older students who have graduated from these schools as leaders will be an incredibly effective way to empower young people. We expect this increased awareness building will create momentum in funding through grants, sponsorships and events to support the projects.
| Member Duties : Specifically, VISTA will help evaluate local watershed needs and create a visual assessment guide to action projects. Train volunteers and create training and action guide for volunteer teams. VISTA will work with groups to initiate action projects in their watersheds, particularly focused on abandoned mine lands but also including action and restoration projects in other areas. VISTA will build capacity through trainings and volunteer management as well as community outreach to garner both financial and volunteer support. Increase awareness building through corporate outreach and collaborating with Young Professionals. Research and apply for local grants and other fundraising to support efforts VISTA will help improve communications and awareness through social media, blogs, and videos. Increase awareness through tabling at events and doing presentations. | |
| Program Benefits : Childcare assistance if eligible , Relocation Allowance , Living Allowance , Choice of Education Award or End of Service Stipend , Training , Health Coverage* . | |
| *For details about AmeriCorps VISTA healthcare benefits, please visit http://www.vistacampus.gov/healthcare | |
| Terms : Car recommended , Permits working at another job during off hours . | |
| Service Areas : Children/Youth , Community Outreach , Environment , Education . | |
| Skills : Writing/Editing , Environment , Communications , Education , Youth Development , Community Organization , Fund raising/Grant Writing , Computers/Technology , Public Speaking . | |
