Below is a brief outline of the Coalition's VISTA Literacy project goals, an outline of VISTA regulations for members and work sites, and a description of the relationship between the Coalition, the work site, and the VISTA member.  If you are interested in serving as a VISTA volunteer in Tennessee,  please give us a call at 615-259-3700 or 800-323-6986 and we'll let you know what positions are currently available within our Literacy project.  Coalition VISTA members are placed with local adult literacy provider agencies in communities throughout the state.  To learn more about Americorps and other national service programs, click here.  To apply to be a VISTA member, click here.  To direct your application to our project, use our program ID number 2821 in the "Program Selections" section of the application.  

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All VISTA projects focus on indirect service.  For Coalition VISTA members, that means that you won't be working as teachers or tutors or as office help.  Instead, you'll be developing new reading or ESL programs, or raising revenue for the agency in which you are serving, or building relationships with local business or civic groups, or developing infrastructure to strengthen your agency better meet the local service need.

1.  The Coalition’s project-level work plan includes the following general goals:

• VISTA members will assist adult literacy provider agencies to expand existing volunteer tutor programs or develop a volunteer tutor program as appropriate.

• VISTA members will assist adult literacy provider agencies to use their community contacts and develop new ones to raise awareness of services available to learners and of the value of the agency’s programs to the community as a whole.  They will solicit donations of in-kind goods and services to sustain the agency’s ability to provide those programs to learners.

• VISTA members will assist adult literacy provider agencies to solicit financial support from individuals, businesses and foundations to supplement the agency’s annual budget and/or fund specific programs.

 

• VISTA members will assist adult literacy provider agencies to enhance agency programs, systems and infrastructure to better equip the agency to serve community need. 

Each agency site has its own individual work plan including one or more of these goals and specific activities associated with each goal, as appropriate to that agency’s needs.  The outcome envisioned by the work plan must in some way be sustainable without the member’s efforts when his term of service is complete.  A VISTA member’s progress is measured in terms of achieving these set goals, but also and ultimately by whether the sustainability outcome is met. 

2.  VISTAs are required to work full time, 35-40 hours per week, and are considered to be on call 24-7.  They cannot hold another job or attend college while in service.  You must commit to working at your assigned site for at least one year.  VISTAs do not perform direct service, but rather work to increase the capacity of the program or agency in one or more of the categories described above.  For instance, a VISTA would not be allowed to teach learners to read, but instead would recruit and train volunteers to teach learners, and organize that volunteer tutor corps in such a way that it would be self-sustaining when the VISTA’s term of service is complete.

VISTA members are prohibited from participating in political campaigns, voter registration drives and similar activities while on duty or perceived to be on duty as a VISTA member.  Members may not participate in any religious activity while on duty.  This does not mean that a VISTA cannot vote or go to church while serving, but simply that VISTA service activities cannot be associated with political or religious activities.

3.  VISTA members must attend a Pre-Service Orientation (PSO).  They cannot begin work until the PSO is complete, and work begins the day after the PSO ends.  PSO is offered six to eight times per year, and the application/registration deadline precedes each PSO by about six weeks.  In addition to PSO, members will also be provided with further In Service Training after their service begins.   The Corporation for National Service (CNS) covers all expenses associated with attendance at both of these events.

4.  Member Benefits

• Members receive a living allowance of approximately $833.00 per month ($9,996 per year divided by 26 pay periods = $384.46 per pay period).  Direct deposit to the member’s bank account is made on a biweekly basis by the CNS. 

• VISTA members may choose one of the following, awarded upon satisfactory completion of a full service year:

   Education Award: VISTA members accrue $4,725.00 per year for up to two years to pay for higher education such as college or vocational school.  It can also be used to pay off student loans.  This award can be used for up to seven years following the end of service.  If the VISTA not does complete the service year, the award is forfeited.

                         Stipend: $100.00 per month is placed into an account for the VISTA member.  The VISTA receives the total 

                             amount, minus taxes, at the end of the year. If the VISTA does not complete the service year, the stipend is forfeited.

 

• Health Coverage is provided to every member (unless waived) beginning the first day of PSO and ending at midnight on the last service day.  There is a small co-pay for office or emergency room visits.  Coverage is NOT available for dependents, and pre-existing conditions are NOT covered. To view the plan details and provider network, click here.

• Other benefits:  modest relocation allowance if appropriate, optional life insurance, childcare support in certain specific circumstances, 10 days personal leave and 10 days sick leave per year.

5.  VISTA members are required to complete monthly progress reports and submit them to the Coalition, so that we can provide CNS (which provides federal funding for this project) with periodic reports.  The reports are due at the Coalition office by the 7th of the following month, and must be approved by the member’s site supervisor.  The report format is specific to the site work plan, and will be explained in detail by a Coalition staff member at an onsite orientation visit (OSOT) soon after the new member begins his/her service year. 

6.  Although VISTA members commit to one year of service at a time, they are eligible (if service is satisfactory and if the work plan so indicates) to re-enroll for a second, or even a third year.  If you have served in another branch of Americorps previously, that service time does count towards the three-year maximum.