The Pitfalls of AmeriCorps*VISTA Participation

Community service is an endeavor that should be encouraged in American youth, not only for the work experience it provides, but also to put a microscope over the problems of people in need. Unfortunately, many non-profit organizations that are unable to afford well-qualified support staff find that attracting trained professionals to donate their time and talent is nearly impossible. For the professional who would be interested in such a venture, there just aren't enough hours in the day. To add to the difficulty, an organization may require potential volunteers to jump through bureaucratic hoops in order to volunteer a mere few hours per month.

The AmeriCorps*VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program provides people eighteen and over with opportunities to serve their communities full-time. VISTA, a program managed under the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) umbrella, places full-time volunteers in non-profit organizations and also local, state, and federal agencies. A VISTA's mission is to help a community help itself by providing indirect service. In a nutshell, a volunteer can help design a tutoring program and solicit funding for it, however can not directly serve by acting as a tutor.

Sponsor sites typically recruit VISTA applicants who can provide a more valuable service than can be extracted from an intern or infrequent volunteer. They are skilled at writing grant proposals, fund-raising, public speaking, and advocating. Equally important is that they bring to the program an extensive peer network they may solicit funds or additional manpower from.

While it can be argued that the benefits of participating in the program are plentiful, oftentimes the negatives are not fully explicated to candidates during the recruitment process. Candidates must undergo a week of pre-service training before their placement is final, and it is during that week that terms and conditions of participation are fully explained in the VISTA handbook.