VISTA Program Announces 2015–16 Team

Five new volunteers are joining three continuing members for the second year of the South Cumberland Americorps VISTA Program.

“The first-year team of VISTA volunteers can be proud of what they accomplished in partnership with community organizations all across this area. We think this new team will build on those successes by continuing to build community, organizational and leadership capacity here on the Plateau,” said Jim Peterman, director of community engagement at the University of the South, which is the organizational home for the VISTA program. 

The volunteers (who include four Sewanee graduates) and their assignments in the community are Elaine Babb Taylor, C’15, community ambassador coordinator, Discover Together; Jennifer Horton, C’15, communication and assessment coordinator, Mountain T.O.P.; Spike Hosch, C ’12, economic development coordinator, Babson Center; Erica Teasley, C’11, economic development coordinator, Grundy County Mayor’s Office; 

Kelly Farina, healthy living coordinator, Sewanee Dining; McKenzie Liegel, school health activities coordinator, Grundy County Health Council; Bobby Luffman, health network coordinator with Grundy County Health Council; and Hilda Vaughan, grant writing and nonprofit management coordinator with South Cumberland Community Fund.

In 2014–15 the VISTA program members organized and implemented mobile food pantries, partnered with USDA to develop a summer meal program, secured funding for school garden projects and health activities in schools, created a local weatherization network, and researched and developed best practices for community ambassador, work force and economic development programs.

The VISTA program, a collaboration between the South Cumberland Community Fund, the University, and community partners, has started programs on the South Cumberland Plateau to address community-identified needs and pressing issues such as food security, education and economic development. By partnering with the VISTA program, local nonprofit groups are leveraging their resources to provide better outcomes for themselves and the clients they serve.

VISTA is the national service program designed specifically to fight poverty. Authorized in 1964 and founded as Volunteers in Service to America in 1965, VISTA was incorporated into the AmeriCorps network of programs in 1993. VISTA has been on the forefront of ending poverty in America for 50 years.

For more information, visit <www.southcumberlandcommunityfund.org/capacity-building> or contact Nicky Hamilton, VISTA director, at <nhamilto@sewanee.edu>.