Our House e-newsletter February & March 2012 | Page 19

AmeriCorps at Our House: pages 8 to 21

track student outcomes and measure the impact of the Learning
Center on its students. But just a few weeks into his project, Joe
realized that Our House needed more than he could provide in
just one semester. He saw that the Learning Center needed help.
There were dozens of students daily but only one staff member
for the whole center. Kids came into the adult learning center
after school because there was nowhere for them to go. Joe
came to me with a proposal—that instead of doing his initially
proposed project, he would write an application to the VISTA
State Office to try to get Our House approved once again as a
VISTA site. If he was successful in his application, this would
exponentially multiply his impact. The initial application
proposed three to four members annually who would serve with
our adult learning center and our children’s programs. The
grant was approved, and in 2007, two VISTA members joined
the Our House team. Five years later, our program has grown
to be one of the largest VISTA sites in the state.
The impact of these members, and of the AmeriCorps
Community Initiative of Arkansas members, who started at Our
House in 2011, is felt in every program and by every resident of
Our House. I am inspired daily by the commitment and talent
that these volunteer bring to our team. They make a tremendous
financial sacrifice to help alleviate poverty and improve the
lives of thousands of people each year.
To the more than one hundred members of AmeriCorps, VISTA,
and Delta Service Corps whose labor of love, dedication, time,
and talent built Our House and sustain it today, thank you.

Photo: During a field trip, Summer VISTA Jenn Croft teaches Jacovee
how to ice skate.