MEADVILLE, Pa. - Jan. 20, 2004 - Through a recent grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), service agencies in Erie and Crawford Counties will soon have more help in their fight against child poverty.
“Children and Youth AmeriCorps*VISTA Project of Northwestern Pennsylvania,” a collaborative project of Allegheny College, Edinboro University, Gannon University and Mercyhurst College, will place 20 full-time AmeriCorps*VISTAs (volunteers in service to America) in Erie and Crawford Counties by Spring, 2004.
The new VISTA volunteers will work to “increase the capacity of low-income people to improve the conditions of their own lives” by mobilizing college volunteers to help with the various projects. The VISTAs will not perform direct service to agency clients, but instead will support the many activities needed to improve new or existing programs by doing such work as running trainings, recruiting and supporting volunteers, planning programs, and assisting in fundraising.
The selected agencies must provide $500 for training support and program administration, $1,000 in-kind contributions comprised of onsite supervision, office space and office supplies.
The agencies that are selected for a VISTA placement will make the final selection of their VISTA volunteer. The volunteers will be recruited nationally and locally and will serve full-time for one year.
Each VISTA volunteer will receive a monthly allowance of approximately $730 from the Corporation for National and Community Service. In addition, the VISTA will receive either an education award of $4,725 or a stipend of $1,200, also from the Corporation, at the end of their service term.
Agencies interested in applying for a VISTA placement are invited to submit an application by Monday, Feb. 23 to: Allegheny College Office of Community Service and Service Learning, Allegheny College, 520 North Main St., Meadville, PA 16335. Applications can be accessed online at http://www.allegheny.edu/accel/commservice/vistapage.html.
Individuals who would like to become a VISTA volunteer may apply online at the program's national Web site http://recruit.cns.gov/applyform.asp. However, the participating agencies in our region will not be listed until sometime in March.
For more information, please contact Rebecca Gebhardt or Rebekah Gayley at the Allegheny College Office of Community Service at (814) 332-5318.
- AC -
Allegheny College, a selective liberal arts college in Meadville, Pa., is one of ten pilot institutions to participate in Project Pericles®, a not-for-profit organization funded by the Eugene M. Lang Foundation, committed to instilling in students a sense of social responsibility and civic concern.
