As our nation’s economic downturn continues and Washington’s unemployment rate edges up to 10% local nonprofit groups are seeing a significant increase in demand for services. Communities In Schools is no exception as more and more young people find themselves in increasingly marginal situations. At the same time funding sources are pulling back, or in the case of Washington Mutual and others, vanishing entirely, leaving large holes in budgets across the state. These days program growth has been replaced by program maintenance.
As we redouble our efforts to attract new funding some good news comes in the form of the Obama Administration’s economic stimulus plan which provides an additional $65 million to the AmeriCorp VISTA program – funding some 10,000 additional positions. In Washington the Communities In Schools network has been awarded six new positions, adding to our current five.
The highly successful, anti-poverty program, around since 1965, connects (mostly) recent college graduates to opportunities with nonprofit organizations helping communities in need or at risk. VISTA members serve one year full-time and are paid a small government stipend. Nonprofits receive youthful and energetic staff while VISTA members receive valuable work practice and real-world grounding in issues brought about by poverty, often carrying their experiences into professional maturity.
We couldn’t be more pleased with this award of six new VISTA positions. By playing a significant role in volunteer recruitment, program management, and internal operations they open up capacity for core staff to focus more effort on the fundraising and partnership development aspects of work, which underpin the success of our programs. Huge thanks to the AmeriCorp VISTA program for their belief in and support of Communities In Schools!
