Our House e-newsletter February & March 2012 | Page 16

Left: Josh Rowland spent his Summer VISTA term setting up the newly-renovated Family House.
Right: One of Jessica Suitor’s favorite experiences as Our House’s In-Kind Donations VISTA was
handing out holiday gifts after months of organizing drives and contacting donors to make sure
there were enough gifts for everyone.

The very first full-time members of the Our House team, 25 years
ago, were VISTA members. These VISTA members recruited local
unions to provide volunteer labor to turn a vacant department
store on Main Street into a shelter for the working homeless. One
role of the VISTA members was to develop our workforce training
program, build partnerships with employers, and celebrate our
residents’ success in finding jobs. The programs that these VISTA
members created over two decades ago remain in place to day.
Bill Clinton: Delta Service Corps & VISTA join AmeriCorps
In 1991, Congress created another national service program that
would focus specifically on the states with the highest poverty
rates—Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The Delta Service
Corps provided needed team members to Our House at a time
when our resources were scarce but the need for our services
was great. By that time, Our House was no longer a VISTA site,