Tag: AmeriCorps VISTA

Round Of Funding To Support AmeriCorps W.Va. Volunteers

More than $1.5 million is going to support volunteers engaged in the AmeriCorps Vista program around the state. The program sends volunteers to local organizations that help fight poverty and support education programs.

More than $1.5 million is going to support volunteers engaged in the AmeriCorps Vista program around the state. The program sends volunteers to local organizations that help fight poverty and support education programs.

The money will support 102 volunteers statewide, including 65 at three organizations in Charleston. That includes the nonprofits West Virginia Community Development Hub, Education Alliance and Step By Step, which helps disadvantaged youth in the coalfields region.

Thirty-two volunteers at West Virginia University in Morgantown and five at the Rural Appalachian Improvement League in Mullens will also be supported.

Specific funding includes:

  • $455,744 to West Virginia University Research Corporation in Morgantown
  • $448,812 to Step by Step in Charleston
  • $361,440 to West Virginia Community Development Hub in Charleston
  • $248,490 to Education Alliance – Business and Community for Public Schools in Charleston
  • $112,950 to Rural Appalachian Improvement League in Mullens

An initial $8 million was announced last week to help support AmeriCorps programs addressing literacy, diet health and opioid addiction prevention in the state.

Federal AmeriCorps Office in W.Va. to Close as Part of Consolidation Plan

The CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service (or CNCS) announced a comprehensive plan to consolidate 46 state offices into eight regional offices in June 2018, effectively closing the CNCS federal office in West Virginia. If enacted, West Virginia’s Senior Corps and AmeriCorps VISTA programs will be supervised by staffers located in an office in Philadelphia.

The CNCS website indicates the plan is part of an effort to reduce overhead costs and make work more sustainable.

The consolidation would not, however, affect operations or staffing for AmeriCorps’ state-run program, Volunteer West Virginia, which oversees AmeriCorps members, but not VISTA or Senior Corps, according to Volunteer West Virginia executive director Heather Foster.

West Virginia U.S. senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito sent a letter to the CNCS requesting more information. In the letter, lawmakers expressed concerns about trading overhead costs for personal connections which “have been the foundation for success.”

In 2018, West Virginia was announced as the leading state per capita to produce AmeriCorps members.

The CNCS website says the agency plans to transition its consolidation plan of national programs plan between September 2019 and June 2020.

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