AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate Program

Brief Encounters, 

Lifelong Inspiration
1201 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20525

202-606-5000 (TTY 202-606-3472) nationalservice.gov

The Corporation for National and Community Service improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic 

engagement through service and volunteering. Each year we engage four million Americans of all ages and backgrounds through our Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs. For more information, 

visit nationalservice.gov.

May 2008

Upon request this material will be made available in alternative forms for people with disabilities.
Brief Encounters, Lifelong Inspiration 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

An Invitation From the Director of AmeriCorps VISTA 2

Summer Associate Projects

Summertime Collaboration Leads to More Helping Hands 4

Assets, Capital, Community, Education, Saving, and Success 8

28,500 Hours Devoted to 7,125 Youth in New Orleans 11

“We Encourage the Children to Laugh and Play” 14

Distressed Households Get Wired and Go Digital 17

Computer Literacy, Home Ownership Take Hold in Rural South Carolina 19

Reading, Riding, Rocking 21

A Week From Home Creates Fond Memories That Last a Lifetime 24

Trading Candy for Carrots 27

Reclaiming Land and Waterways in Coal Country From the Ground Up 30

By the Numbers

Issues Addressed by Summer Associates 33

Where Summer Associates Served 34

Characteristics of Summer Associates 35

Summer Associate Project Sponsors

Thanking Our Sponsors 36

Seeding
2 2007 VISTA Summer Associate Program

I

n June 1967, VISTA fielded the first cadre of 

Summer Associates. Numbering 2,063, they 

were college students serving in a special 

10-week VISTA program during their summer break 

from school. In projects from California to 

Massachusetts, they tackled the root causes of poverty 

in some of the nation’s poorest neighborhoods. 

That summer tradition of service continues today. 

The VISTA Summer Associate program has evolved to 

invite Americans from all walks of life to “fight poverty 

with passion” in the same manner as year-long VISTAs. 

The Summer Associate program offers a shortterm opportunity to supplement a VISTA sponsor’s 

anti-poverty activities with an infusion of ‘hands-on 

volunteers.’ It is a prime opportunity to introduce 

individuals to national service, perhaps leading to 

their participation in year-long programs later. That 

was true for a number of Associates who took part in 

this year’s summer program and decided to enlist in 

VISTA for a full year.

Blending enthusiasm, idealism, and willingness 

to work hard, 1,348 Associates served from late 

May through August in 82 local projects in 28 

states across the nation. Many Associates carried 

out their assignments along side year-long VISTAs, 

who acted as mentors and coordinators for the 

Summer Associates.

Some Associates were college students who came 

from distant campuses, but others were community 

residents. Katie Colonna, a young mother in Green 

River, Utah, and Derek Douglas, a rural organizer 

from Tennessee, served in their own neighborhoods. 

Ranging in age from 18 to 88, Associates assisted in 

places as diverse as rural Bertie County in northeast 

North Carolina, Stockbridge-Munsee Nation 

reservation in northeastern Wisconsin, San Joaquin 

Valley in California, metropolitan Miami, and postKatrina New Orleans. 

With only a few weeks to accomplish their goals, 

Associates got right to work, many in direct service 

roles. Dave Thomas was one of the Summer 

Associates who constructed single-family homes in 

New Orleans’ Musician’s Village. Bryan Olejasz, 

Samir Doshi, and 29 other Associates restored 

watersheds and increased awareness about 

environmental issues in eight Appalachian states. 

Holly Kalemeris maintained a database of computer 

and Internet installations in low-income households 

for One Economy’s Winston Salem office. Ashley 

Polucci, a registered nurse, administered medications 

and provided first aid and health care at a camp for 

developmentally disabled adults and underserved 

children. Others Summer Associates, like Marie Soria, 

who spent the summer restructuring a literacy 

program, assisted in capacity building. They 

An Invitation From the 

Director of AmeriCorps VISTA
Brief Encounters, Lifelong Inspiration 3

developed new programs, recruited clients, raised 

funds, and designed public relations programs.

In this book, you will meet Emily Savetwith, 

who persuaded children to trade their candy for 

carrots in a summer food program at the Mohican 

Family Center in northeastern Wisconsin. You will 

likely empathize with Jessica Broder who left camp 

one day crying after a six-year-old boy begged her to 

take him with her. “It ripped my heart out to walk 

them back to the shelter where they were temporarily 

staying,” said Broder, who organized recreational 

activities for young residents of homeless shelters and 

transitional housing in New Jersey. 

As part of the special initiative of the Corporation 

for National and Community Service in 2007, New 

Orleans welcomed 130 Summer Associates to involve 

more youth, who are still dealing with the aftermath 

of Hurricane Katrina, in summer educational and 

recreational activities. “With schools shut down and 

many summer programs not fully restored since the 

hurricanes, many children lacked access to 

constructive options during the summer,” said Janet 

Pace, the Louisiana Serve Commission’s director of 

volunteer outreach. “Summer Associates engaged in 

over 28,500 hours of volunteering in programs to 

provide needed activities.”

Purposeful and educational, VISTA Summer 

Associate projects not only meet community 

needs year after year, they also provide invaluable 

experience for Associates. The Associates get an 

introduction to the plight of the poor and increase 

their sensitivity to poverty-related issues. Perhaps, 

Kathleen Schreiner, supervisor of Summer Associates 

at a camp for homeless children, said it best: “Our 

hope is that Summer Associates will bring their point 

of view to their friends and neighbors when the 

discussion turns to the need for affordable housing, 

adequate child care for single moms, and the 

problems of the working poor.”

The enormous scale of achievements in our 

summer programs cannot be fully measured, but 

highlighted in this book are ten notable examples. 

The projects profiled illustrate the broad scope of 

VISTA summer programs across the country and the 

collaborative work of Summer Associates with 

organizations and communities to combat poverty in 

new and creative ways.

I invite you to read these stories and, perhaps, 

I can welcome you as a Summer Associate or 

project sponsor next year.

Sincerely,

Jean Whaley

Director, AmeriCorps VISTA

Recycling
Summertime 

Collaboration 

Leads to More 

Helping Hands

Marie Soria cares about kids. That is why she 

recently obtained her teaching credential, 

hoping to become a teacher with her own 

classroom some day. It is also why she spent her 

summer serving as a Summer Associate to help build 

local programs to give children the literacy skills they 

need to succeed in school.

At the Fresno Covenant Foundation (renamed 

Reading and Beyond in December 2007), in 

Fresno County, California, Soria worked with local 

community members to restructure the Foundation’s 

tutoring program and develop a preschool and 

English language program. Most of the program’s 

students were either Latino or of Hmong descent 

and children of migrant farm workers. Forty percent 

of them speak English as their second language.

“When students receive literacy tutoring after 

school, they become stronger readers and writers and 

Economic 

Development 

Corporation serving 

Fresno County

Fresno, CA

t Summer Associates planned activities and raised

funds to provide t-shirts for the 88 children attending the

Fun in the Sun summer day camp at Westside Youth, Inc.

in Mendota, CA.
Brief Encounters, Lifelong Inspiration 5

low-income communities out of poverty. She was 

one of 51 VISTA Summer Associates, sponsored by 

the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) 

serving Fresno County, committed to this important 

work. Twenty-four of the Summer Associates served 

at the Fresno Covenant Foundation.

The EDC, a nonprofit organization that assists the 

county in designing and implementing economic 

and community development opportunities, was the 

local sponsoring agency for the VISTA Summer 

Associate program. In this role, EDC served as an 

thus become stronger members of the community,” 

Soria said. Time and again, studies have also indicated 

that education is one of the surest ways out of 

poverty, especially for young people.

“The Summer Associate program is very 

important for communities, especially in Fresno, 

where there is so much concentrated poverty,” Soria 

said. “The program enables and supports various 

individuals with different backgrounds to go out 

into the community and help people.”

More than 60 percent of the county’s total 

population resides in the neighboring cities of Fresno 

and Clovis. Yet, Fresno County’s rural areas, which 

support a $4 billion agricultural industry and include 

thousands of migrant farm workers and their 

families, are critical to the region. Unfortunately, 

Fresno County residents also face a high rate of 

poverty within their communities. In 2000, 19.8 

percent of the population was below the poverty 

line compared to 13.2 percent across the state. 

Almost one quarter of families with children under 

age 18 live below the poverty line. That number 

jumps to almost one-third of families with children 

under age five.

Soria’s commitment to serving her native Fresno 

community grew as the summer continued, 

especially when she saw the impact her work made 

for the youth from disadvantaged circumstances. 

“Seeing impoverished students who wore the same 

clothes every day strengthened my convictions about 

the Summer Associate program and how important 

it really is.”

Soria was not alone in her summer efforts 

helping a local organization more effectively bring 

Resource Room

Associates Emily Johnson, Cassandra Lloyd, and Marie Soria 

organize the educational materials and supplies in the resource room 

at Fresno Covenant Foundation. 
6 2007 VISTA Summer Associate Program

intermediary to support several local organizations’ 

efforts to use Summer Associates to expand their 

efforts to change outcomes for their region’s lowincome community. In addition to Fresno Covenant 

Foundation, the EDC sponsored Summer Associates 

at six other host sites: Westside Youth; Stone Soup of 

Fresno; House of Hope; Fresno West Coalition for 

Economic Development; Westside Tule Enterprise 

Community; and Tree Fresno.

Summer Associates participated in diverse 

activities to help these community organizations fight 

local poverty, including increasing tutoring and 

mentoring resources, managing various summer 

activities and support services for children and 

families, supporting job training programs for 

incarcerated juveniles, developing a community 

computer center to provide small business support 

and computer training for local communities, and 

planning for future VISTA members’ efforts.

In its inaugural year, the VISTA Summer Associate 

program at EDC “definitely made an impact in our 

community,” according to Devon Jones, EDC’s 

community development coordinator and manager of 

the EDC Summer Associate project. “I know for one 

host site in particular, Westside Youth, that without 

the Summer Associate program, they would not have 

been able to have a summer program for the youth 

they serve in Mendota,” said Jones.

Westside Youth, Inc., has operated in Mendota, 

California, the fourth poorest city in the state, for 

more than 30 years. Westside Youth started a summer 

day camp 11 years ago, but the camp was dropped 

three years ago due to reduced funding. Then EDC 

provided seven VISTA Summer Associates to meet the 

needs of 88 underserved children. Thanks to the hard 

work of Summer Associates, a summer program was 

quickly organized, offering ample outdoor activities, 

arts and craft projects, special presentations, and free 

bag lunches provided by the EDC.

Many Summer Associates in Fresno County were 

college students or high school graduates who either 

previously volunteered with their organization 

placement or had been thinking about volunteering 

for that organization. “For many,” explained Jones, 

“the additional duties and levels of involvement in 

these organizations were new to them. Having these 

additional responsibilities was exciting.”

Teaching

Summer Associates ... participated in 

diverse activities to help ... community 

organizations fight local poverty, including 

increasing tutoring and mentoring resources.
Brief Encounters, Lifelong Inspiration 7

Soria emphasized the many skills she gained 

through her experience building literacy programs. 

“I learned how to present information to an advisory 

committee, set up activities for brainstorming, write 

a synopsis or a report, and how to critique and write 

new curriculum.”

Another important lesson for the Summer 

Associates was the power of citizen engagement to 

help others. “I learned that people work well together 

as a team and when they are motivated and they 

know that their work means something—that is 

significant,” Soria said.

The EDC qualified its efforts to sponsor the VISTA 

Summer Associate program in Fresno County as a 

certain success. “The EDC is proud of its ability to 

offer AmeriCorps VISTA resources to community 

organizations,” said Jones. “We fully appreciate the 

value of what AmeriCorps can offer communities 

and wish to continue to make sure that AmeriCorps 

VISTA has a strong presence here.”

Soria could not agree more about the strong 

impact on children that will come from her work. 

In fact, after completing her Summer Associate 

assignment, she continued to volunteer at the Fresno 

Covenant Foundation. “It is a program I believe in 

tremendously,” said Soria, who is now inspired 

to spend more than just the summer helping her 

community in ways that are “both challenging and 

that have a positive domino effect on the community.”

Tutoring

“The [Summer Associate] program enables 

and supports various individuals with 

different backgrounds to go out into the 

community and help people.”

Marie Soria 

Summer Associate
ACCESS Miami

Miami, FL

Assets, 

Capital, 

Community, 

Education, 

Saving, and 

Success

I

n 2007, Summer Associate Emilio Campos played 

an important role is helping Miami Mayor Manny 

Diaz expand his anti-poverty initiative to reach 

thousands of poor residents across the city. Assigned 

to ACCESS Miami (Assets, Capital, Community, 

Education, Saving, and Success), Campos updated 

new employment opportunities on the ACCESS 

Miami’s job Web site and notified job seekers about 

the postings.

A comprehensive empowerment program to 

increase residents’ access to employment, government 

services, and financial tools and education, ACCESS 

Miami aspires to equip the entire community with 

t Summer Associate Emilio Campos posts new 

employment opportunities to accessmiamijobs.com and 

sends email blasts to the database of job seekers.
Brief Encounters, Lifelong Inspiration 9

the wealth-building tools necessary for economic 

self-sufficiency. The program is one of several farreaching anti-poverty strategies, initiated by Mayor 

Diaz when he took office in 2001, to improve the 

quality of life and family financial stability for 

Miami’s residents. 

Through ACCESS Miami, Campos and two other 

Associates linked thousands of city residents to 

workforce development and training opportunities. 

They coordinated crucial components to the new 

Web site that helped Miami residents find the 

appropriate resources to locate, improve, or upgrade 

their employability skills with the end goal of 

improving their self-sustainability.

Dorcas Perez, community partnerships manager 

for the city of Miami and VISTA supervisor, is exited 

about the contributions of Campos and others at 

ACCESS Miami. “Summer Associates assisted with the 

Financial Literacy: Summer Associates 

linked residents and the small business 

entrepreneur with federal, state, and local 

government programs and services, such 

as: Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax 

Credit, employment, microloans, home 

ownership seminars, and basic money 

management (opening a bank account, 

establishing credit, etc.).

Online Assistance

ACCESS Miami (accessmiamijobs.com): Summer 

Associates researched and coordinated the input of key 

pages into a new Web site and managed a database 

element with collaborative partners to ensure proper 

reporting. They linked thousands of city residents with 

established programs provided by the government.

Jobs Online
10 2007 VISTA Summer Associate Program

day-to-day operations of the organization’s programs 

and worked directly with community members. 

Summer Associates also assisted with programmatic 

development and improvements; thus, increasing the 

overall capacity and infrastructure of an 

organization.”

Perez is also enthusiastic about the importance 

the VISTA program can play in each Associates 

life. “Not only do they gain understanding of the 

social disparities surrounding many American 

communities, but they are also a part of the 

overall improvements VISTA has made in 

America—helping one person, one family, one 

community at a time,” said Perez. 

Serving Together

“Not only do they gain understanding of the 

social disparities surrounding many American 

communities, but they are also a part of the 

overall improvements VISTA has made in 

America—helping one person, one family, 

one community at a time.”

Dorcas Perez 

VISTA Supervisor, City of Miami

Summer Associates join full-year VISTAs in creating a time capsule for posterity.
28,500 Hours 

Devoted to 

7,125 Youth 

in New Orleans

As the Gulf Coast continues its struggle to 

recover from the 2005 storms, Louisiana 

Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu’s 

declaration affirms that all people of Louisiana—

including the young people of New Orleans—and 

the quality of their lives are at the center of the 

state’s revitalization.

Louisiana Serve 

Commission

Baton Rouge, LA

t Associates Jessica MaNais and Diana Nuon conduct a 

sound check before the debut of “Shining Lights,” Tulane 

University Upward Bound program’s first-ever talent show.

“In the aftermath of Katrina and Rita, I declared 

2007 the Year of Service to rekindle citizen 

service in Louisiana and harness the desire to 

build stronger communities. Through initiatives 

like this one, we are reaching that goal and 

providing needed programs for thousands of 

children in New Orleans.”

Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu 

Louisiana
12 2007 VISTA Summer Associate Program

More than half of the nonprofit organizations did 

not reopen after the storms. Those that are providing 

services to youth are inundated with children wanting 

to participate. Responding to the challenge in New 

Orleans, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor 

Louisiana Serve Commission mobilized 134 Summer 

Associates to engage the city’s youth in productive 

activities from June to August 2007.

The Summer Associates Special Initiative placed 

Associates with 16 local agencies to help provide 

enrichment programs, academic tutoring, and 

recreational activities for 7,125 children and youth 

in the metropolitan region.

“With schools shut down and many summer 

programs not fully restored since the hurricanes, 

many children lacked access to constructive 

options during the summer,” said Janet Pace, 

the Commission’s director of volunteer outreach. 

“Summer Associates engaged in over 28,500 

hours of volunteering in programs to provide 

needed activities.”

Many programs consisted of summer camps 

that offered art, music, recreation, field trips, and 

academic activities. Summer Associates served 

alongside and supervised volunteers from church 

groups, colleges, community centers, Foster 

Grandparents, and workforce development agencies. 

Some Associates served as GED teachers for at-risk 

older youth and one group of Associates taught at a 

facility for young offenders on probation. A few 

Summer Associates assisted as lifeguards at two urban 

state parks, allowing some of the most underserved 

youth in those communities access to supervised 

swimming pools.

Associate Francesca Mucciaccio, a rising junior 

at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, served at the 

Dryades YMCA, in the heart of New Orleans. She 

teamed with a teacher to help fourth graders prepare 

for the Louisiana state math test and worked with 

another teacher in an enrichment program that 

emphasized relationship building.

“Although we spent time reading, drawing, and 

playing games, the most significant part of the project 

was one-on-one conversations about life and morals 

that the kids and I had,” Mucciaccio said. “I hope to 

have sufficiently encouraged the kids to seek answers 

and personal discovery. I hope to have aided in the 

growth process of this particular New Orleans 

generation, which is vital to this city’s recovery.”

Associate Diana Nuon, an artist from Long Beach, 

California, assisted with a writing class and directed 

the arts program at Tulane University’s Upward 

Bound, a six-week summer curriculum that helps 

high school students from low-income families 

prepare for college by increasing their academic and 

motivational skills.

The infusion of Summer Associates enabled 

many of the 16 agencies to serve more 

children and youth. Summer camps were 

extended by three weeks, student 

achievement was enhanced, and agencies 

developed better relationships with the 

children and families being served.
Brief Encounters, Lifelong Inspiration 13

“My hope is that the students enjoy writing a bit 

more, and that some of them will feel compelled to 

share their writings to heal themselves and the 

people around them,” Nuon said.

The infusion of Summer Associates enabled many 

of the 16 agencies to serve more children and youth. 

Summer camps were extended by three weeks, 

student achievement was enhanced, and agencies 

developed better relationships with the children 

and families being served. As one of the sites noted, 

“Our VISTA team was the backbone of the summer 

program. They cared and treated each child with 

respect and love.”

Pace has seen the success of the Summer Associate 

project and those involved: “It is challenging and at 

times hard, but the rewards of making a tangible 

impact in the lives of children and youth, of 

providing a consistent adult presence in the lives 

of these children is worth the challenge.”

Seven Summer Associates have continued working 

in the recovery efforts and are responding to such 

challenges. One Associate is teaching; 

three others joined AmeriCorps programs in New 

Orleans; and three signed on with the Tulane 

University Office of Service Learning VISTA Project.

“Our VISTA team was the backbone of the 

summer program. They cared and treated 

each child with respect and love.”

A VISTA Supervisor

Arts Activities

Associate Diana Nuon completes 

an arts activity at the Tulane 

University Upward Bound 

program.
HomeFront

Lawrenceville, NJ

“We Encourage 

the Children to 

Laugh and Play”

Don’t let their beaming smiles and luminous 

brown eyes fool you. 

When their fun-filled, summer day of 

sports, theater, music, arts, and crafts at Camp Good 

Times came to an end, their destination was not a 

safe, secure home, but more likely an emergency 

shelter or transitional housing.

“It ripped my heart out to walk them back to the 

shelter,” said Jessica Broder, a Summer Associate and 

part-time college student, who has served as a 

counselor at Camp Good Times for the past two 

summers. “These children deserve so much more,” 

said the future school teacher, “and I realized every 

day how happy I was to know that their days were 

full of fun and laughter.”

Hosted by HomeFront, central New Jersey’s leading 

agency for helping homeless children and their 

families, Camp Good Times gives more than 85 

children in crisis a safe place to learn new skills and 

share in a lot of fun during the summer. 

t Big smiles at Camp Good Times for Associate Dave 

Borek and campers Shaquinn, Breanna, and Michael.
Brief Encounters, Lifelong Inspiration 15

the project of full-time VISTA Fontella Cawley, who 

was hired after her term of service and is still camp 

director. “I think this illustrates how much 

AmeriCorps VISTA has meant to our organization 

over the years,” Schreiner said.

When HomeFront opened a family shelter in 

2003, the agency expanded its summer recreational 

program to serve the 100 or more children whose 

mothers live in its facilities or attend its work 

readiness and educational classes. “We needed 

committed young adults who had some background 

For homeless families, the time between the end 

of school and Labor Day can be especially difficult. 

“I think the camp makes a huge impact on the 

families,” Broder continued. “The parents or 

guardians are able to continue working and provide 

for their families, and they need not worry about 

child care for the entire summer, and they do not 

have to leave their children alone during the day.” 

HomeFront has been around more than 16 years, 

providing emergency food and shelter to homeless 

families with infants and children and helping 

parents find employment and permanent housing in 

the Trenton, New Jersey, area. For the children, the 

nonprofit organization also offers after-school 

tutoring, recreational activities, an award-winning 

preschool program, and field trips.

 “We have become the premiere source of 

emergency shelter for homeless families in Mercer 

County,” said Kathleen Schreiner, HomeFront’s 

Human Resources Director. “On any given night we 

shelter 350 women and children in our programs 

and facilities. We care for 40 first-time pregnant 

women a year at our Hutchet House program. We 

own 50 units of permanent, affordable housing with 

supportive services.”

More than 900 people experience homelessness 

on any given day in Mercer County, and almost 50 

percent are children. In fact, Trenton, the state capital 

and seat of Mercer County, has the second highest 

rate of family homelessness in the nation. More than 

3,000 men, women, and children a year receive 

services in the homeless system. 

Camp Good Times has been around almost as 

long as HomeFront. In the late 1990s, the camp was 

Associates Kelly Dowd and Jessica Broder
16 2007 VISTA Summer Associate Program

in camping, recreation, athletics, art and education 

to provide a quality program,” said Schreiner, who 

also doubles as HomeFront’s VISTA supervisor.

VISTA’s Summer Associate program was a natural 

fit. “In 2005, we had our first group of Summer 

Associates, and they have strengthened our camp 

through their commitment and leadership skills,” 

said Schreiner. This year’s cadre of Summer 

Associates, recruited from local colleges and beyond, 

tutored the children in reading and math, taught 

them computer skills, and took them on field trips 

to museums in New York, Philadelphia, and 

Camden. “They broadened the horizons of many 

children who have spent their entire lives in the city 

limits of Trenton.” 

Summer Associates also taught the children 

social skills. “We modeled the basics and taught 

them everyday lessons about respect for others and 

themselves, attitude, and manners, and that they too 

have the power to make a difference,” said Summer 

Associate Dave Borek, a recent graduate from Rider 

University, who is currently pursuing a master’s 

degree in clinical psychology and plans to 

work with at-risk adolescents.

Borek, who was in transition to attend another 

university for graduate school and did not have a 

home of his own this past summer, empathized with 

the young campers. “I bounced around from friends’ 

couches and bedroom floors. It was a frustrating and 

uncomfortable experience to not have a place I called 

my own,” he said. “I learned the importance of 

having simple things, like a bed of my own, and a 

stable living environment. It was my choice to not 

have a permanent home for the summer; however, 

these children do not have the luxury of choosing.”

Many Associates experience culture shock when 

they compare the heart-breaking stories of the 

campers with their middle-class upbringing. “They 

will not soon forget the effect of poverty and 

homelessness on the health and well-being of 

children,” declared Schreiner. “When they think of 

the homeless, they will no longer have an image 

of the mentally ill or addicted street person. Our 

Summer Associates will remember the small child 

moving from place to place, with all of his 

belongings in a black plastic bag.”

Schreiner’s hope is that Summer Associates 

“will bring this point of view to their friends and 

neighbors when the discussion turns to the need for 

affordable housing, adequate child care for single 

moms, and the problems of the working poor.”

 “We needed committed young adults who had some 

background in camping, recreation, athletics, art and 

education to provide a quality program.”

Kathleen Schreiner 

VISTA Supervisor, HomeFront 
Distressed 

Households 

Get Wired 

and Go Digital

S

ummer 2007 was One Economy’s first time 

participating in the Summer Associate program. 

A global nonprofit organization that uses 

technology to help low-income people improve their 

lives and enter the economic mainstream, the One 

Economy Corporation placed five Associates in its 

offices and partner organizations in North Carolina. 

“The Summer Associate program has allowed us to 

extend our effort in the community—allowing lowincome people to have access to the Internet, training 

youth to use technology effectively, and informing 

low-income people about One Economy’s online 

resources,” said Laurie Williams, volunteer support 

manager and VISTA supervisor at One Economy. 

Holly Kalemeris, one of two Summer Associates 

at One Economy’s Winston-Salem office, helped build 

the capacity of the national AT&T AccessAll program, 

a three-year effort launched in 2006 to provide 

One Economy 

Corporation

Winston-Salem, NC

t Summer Associates train volunteers how to install 

computers for Charlotte Habitat for Humanity 

homeowners.
18 2007 VISTA Summer Associate Program

Another Associate served at the Bertie County 

Family Resource, working with the Digital 

Connectors (youth technology volunteers) and 

coordinating a Technology Jamboree. The center, 

located in a rural, isolated, low-income community 

in northeast North Carolina, formed a partnership 

with One Economy to transform its facility into a 

community technology hub where residents receive 

training and encouragement to enter the new digital 

economy. The Digital Connectors teach computer 

classes to residents, install computers, and assist 

patrons who need help while using the free 

computer lab.

The Summer Associates’ biggest challenge was 

being immersed in a new organization and new 

program very quickly and having to take on 

responsibilities immediately. They had a significant 

amount of work to accomplish in a short time. 

Williams said Summer Associates met this challenge 

and surpassed expectations. She plans to place more 

Summer Associates next year. “We had no idea they 

would be such a resource for our organization and 

very easy to identify and recruit. We were even able 

to place full-term AmeriCorps VISTAs from our 

Summer Associates serving this summer.”

Kalemeris is one of those VISTAs. She enjoyed her 

Summer Associate experience so much she decided to 

continue her service. “I would highly suggest the 

Summer Associate position to anyone who wishes to 

put their organizational and management talents to 

use. There truly is no better way to learn about the 

professional side of nonprofits to help alleviate 

poverty. One Economy is a wonderful program, and 

serving was a rewarding experience.”

technology packages, including a computer and 

Internet access, to 50,000 low-income households 

across America. Both Associates assisted partner 

affiliates with program support, volunteer 

recruitment, program evaluation, and computer 

installation support. 

“I learned a great deal about the business aspect 

of nonprofits by completing assignments such as 

creating an audit, documenting One Economy’s 

computer and Internet installations, and working with 

the corporation’s online database,” said Kalemeris.

One Economy formed a partnership with local 

Habitat for Humanity affiliates to equip households 

with technology packages. Two Associates served 

in the Charlotte Habitat for Humanity, implementing 

the AT&T AccessAll program. They recruited 20 

community volunteers to connect 32 families to 

the Internet. 

Organizing Materials

Associates Holly Kalemeris and Kristina Hanely and a 

volunteer organize training materials.
Community 

Development 

Corporation of 

Marlboro County

Bennettsville, SC

Computer Literacy, 

Home Ownership 

Take Hold in Rural 

South Carolina

J

eneen Blue, a 19-year-old mathematics major at 

the University of South Carolina, Columbia, has 

spent the past two summers serving as a Summer 

Associate. Shalom Ministries, an initiative of The 

United Methodist Church dedicated to enhancing 

community assets and addressing community needs, 

hosted Jeneen and two other Summer Associates in 

the Shalom Summer Enrichment Program, which 

focuses on robotics and media literacy. 

“The participants were introduced to career 

opportunities and preparing for interviews,” 

explained Blue. “The robotics and media literacy 

program included hands-on experience with using 

video equipment and writing and speaking skills.”

Northeastern Technical College in Cheraw, South 

Carolina, partnered with Shalom Ministries to offer 

two weeks of robotics classes to local youth, while 

exposing them to guest speakers and giving them the 
20 2007 VISTA Summer Associate Program

opportunity to create a video about a challenge that 

teenagers face. According to Jeneen, the students did 

very well with the video project. 

“I have made a positive impact in the community 

by teaching students lifelong skills,” Blue said. 

“Serving in the community has really helped me to 

grow as a person, and I have been able to use some of 

my skills along the way. I learned that I could teach a 

lot to the students.”

Shalom Ministries was one of seven projects in the 

2007 Summer Associate program at the Community 

Development Corporation of Marlboro County 

(CDC), a nonprofit that creates housing, economic 

development, leadership, and educational 

opportunities for residents of Marlboro and five other 

northeastern South Carolina counties. The CDC of 

Marlboro County fielded 24 Summer Associates, who 

completed projects ranging from media literacy to 

asset mapping to adult education to summer camp. 

Luke Johnakin, manager of planning and project 

development at CDC and Summer Associate 

supervisor, said this year’s program was a success 

and the Summer Associates benefited as well as 

the community.

Robotics Class “Surprising to many of the Summer Associates 

was the realization that, although growing up in the 

immediate area, many of the dire socioeconomic 

challenges never surfaced until they had experienced 

the actual hands-on engagements the Summer 

Associate project provided,” he said. 

Nine Summer Associates served at CDC on the 

Asset Mapping and Resource Development project. 

The Associates conducted assessments of 

Bennettsville, McColl, Blenheim, Tatum, Clio and 

Wallace to evaluate each community’s eligibility for 

housing improvements.

“By having diversity among both staff and 

volunteers, CDC has been able to plan, develop, and 

coordinate local programming for Associates,” said 

Rev. Charles Malloy, CDC’s executive director. “We 

were able to expand the Summer Associate program 

and deliver more services.”

Checking Bulletins
Green River 

Community Center/

Boys & Girls Club

Green River, UT

Reading, Riding, 

Rocking

J

ust as the rock ‘n’ roll movie of the same title, the 

“School of Rock” camp in Green River, Utah, had 

a bunch of 6-to-12-year-olds buzzing, dancing, 

and bopping up and down, while learning about rock 

and roll music. Unlike the movie, the summer camp 

also had participants examining the “real rocks” of 

geology, learning about safety, improving their 

reading skills, and studying cultures in different 

periods of history. 

“School of Rock” was the theme of this summer’s 

day camp, sponsored annually by the Community 

Center/Boys & Girls Club of Green River. The 50 

youth arrived each weekday for six weeks eager not 

only to learn about music, but also to create arts and 

crafts and go skateboarding and horseback riding. 

At the center of all the camp activity were four 

“great” Summer Associates. They planned projects, 

ran sporting events, and transported the campers 

on field trips. 

“The VISTAs helped bring our community 

together by serving them,” said Joni Pace, executive 

director of the Green River Community Center and 

t Associate Katie Colonna helps youth clean the city 

baseball park.
22 2007 VISTA Summer Associate Program

Summer Associate supervisor. “The school and, most 

importantly, our entire community have seen the 

difference these volunteers are making.”

Summer Associates also helped to recruit and 

organize community volunteers to teach and mentor 

children, prepare and deliver meals to seniors, 

organize school events, and supply other services in 

the rural, impoverished community. “The Summer 

Associate program created a bond with the 

community that will endure for years to come,” Pace 

said. “People who hadn’t been part of the center and 

its activities before are now active participants.” 

Summer Associates coordinated service 

opportunities every Friday for the campers, in 

conjunction with the Corporation for National and 

Community Service’s Summer of Service initiative, 

a national campaign to engage more young people 

in service during the summer months. The Summer 

of Service initiative recognizes the potential of all 

youth to contribute meaningfully to their 

communities through volunteer service. The School 

of Rock youngsters contributed to their small, rural 

community by cleaning the town park’s baseball 

diamond, clearing weeds and refuse along the 

main street, and removing weeds at affordable 

housing complexes. 

“The Summer Associate program created a 

bond with the community that will endure for 

years to come.”

Joni Pace

VISTA Supervisor, Green River Community Center

“I really got to work with the kids a lot, and that 

was really fun,” said Summer Associate Katie 

Colonna. “One child in particular is a good friend of 

my little boy. They’ve had tons of disciplinary issues 

with him, and I took time out everyday with him, 

and he really improved.”

Colonna has volunteered at the Green River 

Community Center before, but never full-time as she 

did as a Summer Associate. The experience made her 

more aware of poverty in the area and how many 

children lack exposure to adult role models and arts 

and culture. 

“Most people in Green River are at or below the 

poverty level,” she said. “We did a lot of things the 

Sports

Associate Adrian Lucero teaches basketball skills at 

School of Rock Camp.
Brief Encounters, Lifelong Inspiration 23

kids wouldn’t have seen otherwise. I realize how 

lucky my kids are.”

As a Summer Associate and mother, Colonna said 

she and her children had an amazing summer 

experience. She was able to take her children to camp 

with her during her service and said her son now 

realizes that he has plenty compared to other children 

at the camp. 

Colonna took a week after her service to reflect 

about her experience and let the emotion of it sink 

in. Although she said describing her Summer 

Associate service was difficult, Colonna revealed that 

she did not believe it when people told her she would 

get more out of her service than the community 

would. She now agrees.

“I think I grew as a person, a mother, and a wife 

this summer,” she said. “Sometimes you don’t realize 

how important you are to people. If I could be in 

AmeriCorps the rest of my life, I would make that 

my career.” 

Community Cleanup

Associate Danny Greenhalgh helps youth remove weeds 

at a senior citizens home.
A Week From 

Home Creates 

Fond Memories 

That Last a 

Lifetime

F

or most kids, summer camp means swimming 

lessons, bottles of bug spray, and a week away 

from mom and dad. Nights are spent around 

the campfire roasting marshmallows and days are 

spent learning archery, horseback riding, and arts and 

crafts. Counselors aplenty keep an eye out on 

campers, bandaging their scrapes and bruises and 

turning their cabin lights out at night.

For the at-risk youth and children and adults with 

developmental disabilities who spend a week at Camp 

Volasuca in Sultan, Washington, summer camp 

means this and much more. The camp provides all 

campers recreational and outdoor opportunities that 

may not be available to them, or that they may be 

excluded from in their communities. The camp staff 

t Children of Promise campers spend an afternoon at a 

Mariners baseball game. The camp is for children who 

have a parent in prison.

Volunteers of America 

Western Washington

Everett, WA
Brief Encounters, Lifelong Inspiration 25

builds upon campers’ strengths and helps them gain 

self-confidence. 

Camp Volasuca hosts nine weeks of fun activities. 

Five weeks are dedicated to disabled adults. Two 

weeks are devoted to low-income youth, many of 

whom are foster children and children whose 

families are on assistance. One week is set aside for 

children who have a parent in prison, and another 

week is dedicated to children who suffer from Fetal 

Alcohol Syndrome and their families. 

Situated at the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, 

Camp Volasuca is operated by Volunteers of America 

Western Washington. The nonprofit organization 

serves eight Washington counties and is one of the 

region’s most comprehensive human services 

organizations. It offers assistance in numerous service 

areas, including basic needs, family and children 

services, senior companionship, and community 

information and referral. 

In 2007, Camp Volasuca welcomed eight Summer 

Associates to fill several critical roles to the camp’s 

operation. Their presence dramatically increased the 

nonprofit’s capacity to welcome more campers and 

offer them a wider range of activities, more personal 

attention, and a safer, healthier experience. In fact, 

the additional staff opened Camp Volasuca’s doors to 

more than 270 campers—greater than a 30 percent 

increase in campers able to attend the camp than the 

year before.

“The Summer Associate program has had a 

profound affect on Camp Volasuca,” said Dave Wood, 

director of Volunteers of America Sky Valley Services. 

“It has expanded our capacity as well as added depth 

to program offerings, and the quality of the Summer 

Associate Ashley Polucci

Associates is awesome. I highly recommend the 

program to anyone who has the need. I talk about 

the program whenever possible at Chamber events, 

service clubs, and with other nonprofits.”

Recent high school graduate and Summer Associate 

Amber Crow was the arts and crafts director. “I knew 

that the people who would be attending the camp 

were people who just needed a positive atmosphere 

and environment, and I wanted to help,” said Crow. 

“My work helped the kids find something simple and 

worthwhile to do instead of drugs and alcohol.” 

Thanks in part to her previous experience 

working with adults with disabilities, Crow knew 

that “working with them would give them a chance 

to work on their motor skills and show them that no 

matter what their disability was or what their life 

was like, there would always be something in life 

that they could accomplish.”

Associate Ashley Polucci, a nurse with more 

than 30 years of experience, managed the many 

medication and medical situations at the camp. 
26 2007 VISTA Summer Associate Program

“The Summer Associates program has had a 

profound affect on Camp Volasuca. It has expanded 

our capacity as well as added depth to program 

offerings, and the quality of the Summer Associates 

is awesome.”

Dave Wood

Director, Volunteers of America Sky Valley Services

related to making better choices”—skills that help 

them to avoid dangerous and unhealthy behaviors. 

“All of these skills attack risk factors that can keep 

many of these kids in poverty. Camp Volasuca 

expands their life’s goals and ambitions to move 

hopefully into self-sufficiency and independence.”

Summer Associate Jason Engle saw firsthand the 

campers’ achievements and relishes the opportunity 

he had to foster them. “I’ve made an impact on the 

lives of many of the youth at camp, as well as the 

developmentally disabled campers.” 

As a result, his own personal goals have changed 

as well. Before becoming a Summer Associate, Engle 

was a warehouse manager, who planned to attend 

community college and pursue a career in law 

enforcement. He now plans to become a 

full-time VISTA member. “Working here this summer 

has changed my life,” explained Engle. “I constantly 

found myself in new situations. I’ve built a lot of selfconfidence, and I am now planning a career working 

with at-risk youth.”

Associate Amber Crow

The addition of the nurse played a huge role in the 

camp maintaining its American Camping 

Association membership.

 “Dealing so closely with the different levels of 

disability has allowed me to know the campers on an 

individual basis, and I am amazed at the diversity of 

the clients,” said Polucci. “There were challenges on a 

daily basis for growth and learning.”

“It was clear that the campers laughed, played, 

swam, and thoroughly enjoyed themselves within the 

limits of their individual abilities,” Polucci said, 

noting that the caregivers for the campers looked 

forward to camp, both because the campers would 

be having fun and because they would be getting a 

week of respite from daily caregiving.

Wood offered another seasoned insight into the 

camp’s impact. “Camp helps campers grow skills 
University of 

Wisconsin Extension

Milwaukee, WI

Trading Candy 

for Carrots

F

or Summer Associate Emily Savetwith, the 

simple act of eating carrots changed her 

summer. Emily was tasked with creating 

menus, cooking and serving meals, and keeping 

production records for the Mohican Family Center’s 

Summer Food Program on the StockbridgeMunsee Nation reservation in Shawano County in 

northeastern Wisconsin. 

“To tell the truth, I was a bit skeptical about the 

program at first,” she said. “I mean, why would the 

kids want to eat our milk and carrots when they 

have Kool-Aid and candy at home? Well, apparently 

the food wasn’t the only impact I had on these 

children—they really looked up to me. When they 

saw me eating carrots, they wanted to too.” 

As part of the VISTA Summer Associate program 

through the University of Wisconsin Extension 

(UWEX), Savetwith and 33 other Summer Associates 

served in Tribal Land communities in 13 counties 

across the state. Summer projects focused on youth 

development, neighborhood revitalization, and 

sustainable agriculture. Contributing to the mission 

t Associates Emily Savetwith and Nichole Merckes picnic 

in the Tribal Pow-Wow Grounds and Park in Wisconsin.
28 2007 VISTA Summer Associate Program

of UWEX, Summer Associates worked to extend 

the knowledge and resources of the university to 

the community, while bolstering preexisting assets 

within the community.

According to VISTA Supervisor Mary Thiry, 

“2007 was our second year in the Summer Associate 

program.” She added that UWEX made a concerted 

effort to seek out diversity among the Associates. 

“They brought with them a wealth of ideas from 

their cultural, age, educational, and economic 

backgrounds.” Most Associates were part of a 

team, which according to Thiry, provided a sense 

of community and reduced their anxiety. “This 

approach created a tremendous impact in a short 

time,” she said. 

“For example, at the Stockbridge-Munsee Nation, 

Associate Nichole Merckes, a tribal member, was 

immediately able to identify a need for the youth 

to understand their culture and learn about health 

issues, while Associate Emily Savetwith, a non-Native, 

was able to view the issues from her background and 

provided another way of looking at how to address 

these needs. As a team, they were able to develop a 

new summer healthy food program.”

In addition, the team approach involved 

“UWEX provided me with many materials and resources to help jump-start the program, and 

from there I was able to reach out to the boys of the community.”

Jonathan Williams

Summer Associate

committed communities, mentorship from trained 

UWEX supervisors, coaching from UWEX state staff, 

and guidance from the Corporation State Office. 

Full-time VISTAs helped Associates navigate within 

AmeriCorps VISTA and UWEX, saving time and 

allowing Associates to focus their energy for the 

tasks ahead. “An added benefit,” said Thiry, who has 

since retired, “was that one of the Summer Associates 

became a full-time VISTA.”

Summer Associates also served at the 21st Street 

School in Milwaukee (the city known for having 

the nation’s highest school dropout rate of AfricanAmerican students), where they coordinated Boys 2 

Men groups to teach boys about becoming healthy 

and responsible.

“UWEX provided me with many materials and 

resources to help jump-start the program, and from 

there I was able to reach out to the boys of the 

community,” said Jonathan Williams, a Summer 

Associate at the Boys 2 Men program. “I want the 

boys to transform into stronger individuals, and at 

the same time develop a brotherhood with the other 

boys of the group that will last a lifetime. We have 

struggled at times, but we have grown from those 

struggles to become better men.”
Brief Encounters, Lifelong Inspiration 29

Other Associates at the 21st Street School 

worked with youth in school readiness and cultural 

awareness programming. Activities ranged from 

reviewing spelling words to swimming. A selfawareness segment encouraged youth to think 

about their strengths and goals, while a culturalawareness segment exposed youth to people with 

different backgrounds. 

 “UW Extension is great for kids in this everchanging world,” summed up Jessica Goodwin, an 

Associate this past summer at 21st Street School. 

She said the program helps kids understand “that if 

you want success, you need to put forth the effort, 

recognizing [your] faults and stepping up to the 

challenge of learning.”

Discussing the Stockbridge-Munsee Nation History
Appalachian Coal 

Country 

Watershed Team

Beckley, WV

Reclaiming Land 

and Waterways in

Coal Country From 

the Ground Up

F

or some Summer Associates, the opportunity 

to volunteer means moving to a new location 

for the summer. For Derek Douglas, it meant 

seeing a project he had been hoping for happen in 

his hometown of Jellico, an economically and 

environmentally distressed town in northern 

Tennessee near the Kentucky border. 

Douglas, a long time rural organizer, contacted the 

Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team (ACCWT) 

in December 2006 after seeing a VISTA position 

announcement for the organization. The ACCWT helps 

fight poverty and provides citizens with the assistance 

they need to make their own rural coal mining 

communities cleaner, healthier, and safer places to live 

and work. Founded in response to requests from 

watershed groups throughout coal country, ACCWT 

supports a growing movement that is quietly bringing a 

new strength and new hope to the Appalachian region.

t Associate Bryan Olejasz monitors the water quality of 

Deckers Creek in Dellslow, WV.
Brief Encounters, Lifelong Inspiration 31

Douglas talked with the ACCWT about developing 

a project in his hometown that would help diverse 

and divided stakeholders find a common ground in 

cleaning up their watershed. Recognizing that 

providing a position for Douglas could help his 

community’s watershed restoration project, the 

ACCWT placed him as a Summer Associate with the 

goal of bringing resources together to support a 

longer VISTA position in a resource-scarce economy.

“If an organization has the ability to house and 

supervise someone for eight to ten weeks and has 

defined projects that they would like to see carried 

out and simply do not have the staff capacity to do so, 

the Summer Associate program is a great resource,” 

said ACCWT Coordinator Duncan Wilson. 

The ACCWT also placed 31 Summer Associates 

with community watershed groups throughout 

Appalachian Coal Country to serve rural 

communities impoverished by environmental 

degradation and its many consequences. The 

Associates’ responsibilities ranged from establishing 

volunteer water monitoring programs to leading 

campaigns and increasing membership of their 

sponsor site. Prior to their service, ACCWT trained 

the Associates in standard monitoring techniques, 

how to collect data, how to use data to obtain 

funding for remediation projections, and types of 

remediation. More than 10,000 hours of volunteering 

later, the Associates revamped water quality 

monitoring systems, developed new educational 

programs, and created a plethora of new partnerships 

throughout these communities. 

“In eight weeks,” Wilson explained, “a Summer 

Associate can begin a project and build community 

support to continue the project after they are gone, 

or can work to bring new and lasting energy to a 

project that is already underway.” Summer Associate 

Bryan Olejasz, assigned to Friends of Deckers Creek 

in Dellslow, West Virginia, accomplished much 

during his eight-week program. Olejasz increased 

awareness of water quality issues and taught 

community volunteers water sampling techniques 

by serving as a guest lecturer at the All Hands-On 

Deckers, a three-week watershed service-learning 

camp for local middle school boys. He also initiated 

partnerships with the local farmers’ market, the 

Morgantown Boy Scout Troop, and a local newspaper 

Seeding

Associate Samir Doshi, a Ph.D. candidate at the 

University of Vermont Rubenstein School of Ecology and 

Natural Resources, plants warm season grasses on 

abandoned mine land. Doshi served with the Powell River 

Project in Wise, VA.
32 2007 VISTA Summer Associate Program

to help recruit volunteers to reconstruct stream 

corridors and trails.

The Summer Associate program presented an 

opportunity that Douglas had not expected: 

“Everyone was so supportive and encouraging [at 

ACCWT]. The training was intense, but necessary 

for helping me visualize a successful project.” After 

developing a partnership with the Clear Fork of the 

Cumberland Project in Newcomb, Tennessee, Douglas 

used his time as a Summer Associate to engage local 

youth in his work by blending watershed education 

with ongoing efforts to raise funds for a local skate 

park. Undertaking such community revitalization 

pursuits alongside their project activities is common 

Monitoring

Protecting among the ACCWT Summer Associates. And they do 

not consider it an added burden. “When you have 

difficult conditions like we have, your rewards are 

great too,” Douglas explained. “When people have 

been oppressed for so long, seeing positive change is 

a really great feeling.”

Associate Renee Stewart holds an endangered eastern 

hellbender salamander. Stewart served with the Little 

Beaver Creek Land Foundation in Lisbon, OH.

Associate Bryan Olejasz operates a flow meter as 

part of a water quality monitoring program. Bryan 

served at a nonprofit watershed group, Friends of 

Deckers Creek, in Dellslow, WV.
By the Numbers

Issues Addressed 

by Summer 

Associates

t The 14 Summer Associates at New Orleans Area 

Habitat for Humanity helped construct single family 

homes in Musicians’ Village, located in the lower Ninth 

Ward.
34 2007 VISTA Summer Associate Program

Where Summer Associates Served

The VISTA Summer Associate program in 2007 had a presence in 28 states, including 82 projects and 1,348 Associates.*

*See page 36 for a complete list of Summer Associate project sponsors.

Summer Associate Location
Brief Encounters, Lifelong Inspiration 35

Head Section 

Summer Associates by Gender

Summer Associates by Education Level

Summer Associates by Age

Characteristics of Summer Associates
Summer Associate 

Project Sponsors

Thanking Our 

Sponsors

VISTA thanks the following sponsors of Summer 

Associate projects in 2007. 

Alabama 

f CHASM (Caring, Helping, Aiding, Supporting, and 

Mentoring) Family Resource Center, Selma

Arkansas 

f St. Francis County Community 

Development Corporation

California 

f ARTScorpsLA, Los Angeles 

f Children, Youth, and Family Collaborative, 

Los Angeles

f College Career Centers, Los Angeles

f CSUB (California State University Bakersfield) 

Academic Centers of Excellence, Bakersfield

t Summer Associates coordinated the work of volunteer 

groups at the Musicians’ Village in New Orleans’ lower 

Ninth Ward. The Ninth Ward was severely damaged by 

Hurricane Katrina. 
Brief Encounters, Lifelong Inspiration 37

f Economic Development Corporation serving 

Fresno County, Fresno

f Habitat for Humanity, Alameda

f National Farm Workers, Los Angeles

f VISTAs for Center for Community Service 

Learning, Northridge

f YES Center, San Bernardino

f Youth Development Project, Rancho Cordova

Florida 

f City of Miami

f Communities in School of Florida, Inc, Tallahassee

f Florida State University – Learn & Serve, 

Tallahassee

f Operation Community Focus, Belle Glade

f West Central Florida VISTA Recovery Project, 

Highland City

Georgia 

f Changing Lives, One Program a at Time, 

College Park

f Hands On Atlanta, Atlanta

Iowa 

f Habitat VISTA Project, Mason City

f Iowa American Red Cross Homeland Security 

Project, Marshalltown

f Oakridge Resident Engagement Initiative, 

Des Moines 

f VISTA Neighborhood Assistance Project, 

Cedar Rapids

Illinois 

f Homeland Security Disaster Liaisons, Chicago

f Illinois Coalition for Community Service, 

Springfield

Indiana 

f Dads, Inc. of Indiana, Indianapolis

Kentucky 

f Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville

f Mountain Missions Development Corporation, 

Berea

f South Louisville Community Ministries, 

Louisville

Louisiana 

f Catholic Community Services, Baton Rouge

f Louisiana Serve Commission, Baton Rouge

f New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, 

New Orleans 

f Southern University and A & M College, 

Baton Rouge
38 2007 VISTA Summer Associate Program

Michigan 

f Michigan Communities in Schools, Holland

Minnesota 

f Minnesota Literacy Council, Saint Paul

Mississippi 

f Mississippi Delta Service Corps/AmeriCorps 

VISTA, Cleveland

f University of Southern Mississippi Center for Adult 

Learning and Education, Hattiesburg

f Youth Excitement Team, Inc., Meridian

North Carolina 

f Burlington Housing Authority, Burlington

f Habitat for Humanity International Multi-State, 

Apex

f One Economy Corporation, Winston-Salem

New Jersey 

f HomeFront, Lawrenceville

f Pathways Out of Poverty/Family Success/Prisoner 

Reentry, Newark

New Mexico 

f SER de New Mexico, Albuquerque

Nevada 

f American Lung Association, Reno

f Nevada Outdoor School, Winnemucca

Ohio 

f Cleveland Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug 

Abuse Outreach, Cleveland

f Habitat for Humanity International, Oregon

f Rural Action, Inc., Trimble

Oklahoma 

f Ada Regional United Way, Ada

f World Won Development Center, Tulsa

South Carolina 

f Alpha Bora Comprehensive Services, 

Wadmalaw Island

f Building to Revitalize Communities, Pageland 

f Community Development & Improvement 

Corporation, Aiken

f Community Development Corporation of Marlboro 

County, Bennettsville

f Community Improvement Plan, Holly Hill

f South Carolina Collaborative for Civic Engagement, 

Charleston
Brief Encounters, Lifelong Inspiration 39

Tennessee 

f Second Harvest Food Bank, Gray

f Tennessee’s Community Assistance Corporation 

(TCAC) Community VISTA Program, Morristown

f Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability – 

State Health Insurance Program Medicare Part D, 

Nashville

Texas 

f Center for Bilingual Development and Social 

Enterprise, El Paso

f International Rescue Committee, Dallas

f The First Tee of Greater Austin, Austin

f United Cerebral Palsy of Texas, Austin

Utah 

f Green River Communities Center/Boys & Girls 

Club, Green River

f United Way of Utah County, Provo

f SPLORE Common Ground Empowerment Project, 

Salt Lake City

f Volunteer Connections, Salt Lake City

Virginia 

f Beacon at the Crossroads, Hampton

f Beans and Rice, Radford

f Bragg Hill Family Life Center/Tower Ministries, 

Inc., Fredericksburg

f Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries, 

Charlottesville

f Hand and Hand, Inc., Hampton

Washington 

f Volunteers of America Western Washington, 

Everett

f Washington Service Corps, Olympia

Wisconsin 

f University of Wisconsin-Extension, Milwaukee

f United Way of Dane County Preschools of Hope, 

Madison

f Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction VISTA 

Project, Madison

West Virginia 

f Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team, 

Beckley

f Step by Step, Inc., Charleston

f West Virginia University Extension Service, 

Morgantown

Wyoming 

f Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Teton Area, 

Jackson
40 2007 VISTA Summer Associate Program

Become a VISTA Summer Associate 

Summer Associates choose from projects throughout the country, based on their skills and interests, 

and serve 8 to 10 weeks during the summer with community-based organizations, working to 

overcome poverty. Assignments may involve academic tutoring; environmental education; camp 

counseling; recruiting and training community volunteers; teaching computer literacy skills; disaster 

preparation and recovery; establishing partnerships with local businesses, organizations, churches, 

and schools; planning community meetings; or handling public relations. Whatever the task or 

challenge, VISTA Summer Associates make a lasting difference for low-income communities in need.

Join the more than 177,000 individuals who have dedicated a summer or a year of their lives to 

fighting poverty in the United States. Join VISTA.

Find out more at americorps.gov

Or Call 800-942-2677

TTY 800-833-3722

Sponsor a VISTA Summer Associate Project

Any sponsor of a year-round VISTA project can apply to host a Summer Associate project. Develop a 

VISTA summer project and host Summer Associates as they work to expand your organization’s 

capacity to solve community problems. VISTA Summer Associates help organizations like yours to 

create the sustainable infrastructure needed to fight poverty in their communities.

Contact your local Corporation State Office.

For a directory, go to: americorps.gov

202-606-5000

TTY 202-565-2799

Email: vista@americorps.gov

Become a VISTA Summer Associate

There are thousands of ways to make a difference.

Find out which opportunity is right for you.

Call 800-942-2677 (TTY 800-833-3722)

americorps.gov

AmeriCorps VISTA is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that 

improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. VISTA 

offers service opportunities to individuals 18 or older without regard to race, color, national origin, disability, 

gender, sexual orientation, religion, political affiliation or other nonmerit factors. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, 

U.S. nationals, or lawful permanent residents.