Our House e-newsletter February & March 2012 | Page 10

Full-time volunteers?
VISTA (pronounced with a short I, not a long E) stands for
Volunteers In Service to America. VISTAs spend a year or more
volunteering full-time, 40+ hours a week, building the capacity
of organizations like Our House to improve conditions that
cause poverty. Members can renew a term for up to 5 years,
a new limit recently raised from 3 years. Five of Our House’s
ten current VISTAs are in their 2nd term with us, and one just
began her 4th Our House VISTA term.

How can you be volunteers if you get paid?
VISTAs do not get paid for their service and, because they are

full-time members, are not allowed to have jobs during their
service years. To keep the volunteers alive during their service,
the program provides each with a living allowance equal to
the poverty level in the community they serve. This is usually
enough for rent and basic utilities.

Why VISTA? Can’t regular volunteers do it?
VISTAs are volunteers, but their service isn’t typical volunteer

work. During this year’s AmeriCorps Week (March 10th to 18th),
you’re likely to see stories and photos of local VISTAs helping
with standard but important volunteer tasks like stacking cereal
in a food bank or reading to kids in a library. VISTAs do this
work in groups on rare service days to promote volunteering.
What VISTAs do in their everyday posts, however, requires skills
and training specifically suited to their positions. VISTAs apply
for positions directly with service sites, just as someone would
apply for jobs. Each site chooses VISTAs just as they would
hire other staff members.