Hi there everyone,
I thought I would weigh in on the AmeriCorps question
(or perhaps more appropriately AmeriCrops as I often
misspell it!).
I am about to complete my second year as an AmeriCorps
Vista volunteer with a community garden in rural
northern Nevada. The Vista program has been a terrific
help to our garden. As opposed to most other
AmeriCorps programs, Vistas focus on building
"sustainability" for a program and so are only granted
for limited time periods, typically 3-5 years. There
is usually no cost share required for the first 3
years. So essentially, if you are willing to complete
the paperwork and provide supervision, you can get
"free" workers for a few years to strengthen a
particular program! The other aspect of Vista is that
it is anti-poverty focused, which can be a great match
for community gardens.
Other AmeriCorps programs (like state, national,
senior, etc.) can go on indefinitely, I believe, but
there is a cost-share associated from the beginning.
They also give more flexibility in terms of what the
members can do. (Vista members are limited to 20%
direct service with the rest being organizing
volunteers, designing promotional materials, creating
& leading trainings, etc.)
Well that's probably more than folks wanted to know,
but if anyone has any other questions, please don't
hesitate to ask! AmeriCorps has been a great program
to work for and with.
-Susan
Winnemucca Community Garden
151 W. McArthur Ave.
Winnemucca, NV 89445
775.623.2333
www.WinnemuccaCommunityGarden.org
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