Statewide Federal Service Program Looking For Nonprofits in Need

Statewide Federal Service Program Looking For Nonprofits in Need of Capacity Building

MILFORD, NH – The Families in Transition (FIT) VISTA Program seeks proposals from New Hampshire nonprofits and government agencies to be service sites for professional AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America) members. VISTA service sites benefit from a VISTA volunteer by receiving the support of a full-time professional volunteer without the high cost of salary and benefits.

AmeriCorps VISTA, a program managed by the Corporation for National & Community Service (CNCS), comprises a nationwide network of volunteers who commit to serve full-time for at least one year at nonprofit, faith-based or government agency, working to fight poverty and build organizational capacity throughout the United States. The Families in Transition VISTA Program partners with organizations, called “service sites”, such as the Claremont Soup Kitchen, Arts in Reach, New Hampshire Department of Education, Families in Transition, and others across New Hampshire, to place VISTAs in the following service areas: education, veterans’ services, economic opportunity, health, and disaster relief and prevention.

“The VISTA Program is like the Peace Corps for the United States,” said Julie Lynch, Families in Transition-New Horizons Manager of Volunteers and FIT VISTA Program. “The VISTA program is beneficial for everyone involved: agencies get a full-time volunteer at an affordable cost and VISTA’s gain professional experience while developing new skills and building the capacity of their service sites. The true purpose of the VISTA Program is to help provide critical services to those most in need.”

Qualifying service sites must submit a proposal to the Families in Transition VISTA Program by 5:00pm, Friday, March 23, 2018. The proposal can be found online at www.fitnh.org/vista-program/host-a-vista/. Interested organizations are strongly encouraged to call the FIT VISTA office at 603-641-9441 ext. 357 to discuss the program prior to filling out a proposal.

The Families in Transition VISTA Program is one of the largest networks of AmeriCorps VISTA members living and serving throughout New Hampshire. Since 2010, it has been a program of Families in Transition-New Horizons, a Manchester, Concord, and Dover, NH, based homeless housing and services provider. For more information about the program or FIT, visit www.fitnh.org or call 603-641-9441.