AMERI-NEWS Catholic Charities NH VISTA Program
The past few weeks, Renee and I started collecting data for the six month progress report CNCS requires for our grant. After compiling all the data from your monthly reports, we were amazed at what you all accomplished since September! Here are a few of the highlights:
$510,298.37 of cash resources raised
$11,970.00 of in-kind resources raised
642 volunteer recruited and 2,048 volunteers managed
1,978 service hours from recruited volunteers
47,584 service hours from managed volunteers
270 organizations received capacity building services
2,365 staff members were trained
Thank you everyone for all of you hard work! Let’s see what can be accomplished in the next 6 months!
Spring 2017
In This Issue: Open Positions AmeriCorps Week Governor’s Conference VISTA Spotlight Upcoming Webinars
Know Anyone Interested in VISTA? We have found that one of the best tools for recruiting new members is word of mouth. So, if you know a friend or family member that is interested in service, giving back to their community, and gaining invaluable professional and personal development skills, tell them about our open VISTA positions!
Fall Mountain Food Shelf (Langdon, NH) – Development VISTA: Assist the Fall Mountain Food Shelf in development and increase resources for low-income communities as well as manage their social media accounts. Manchester Police Athletic League (Manchester, NH)—Development VISTA: Assist Manchester Police Athletic League to help with resource development to support youth programming in lowincome communities in which MPAL serves. MCVP Crisis and Prevention Center (Keene, NH) - Community Outreach and Development Advocate VISTA: Assist MCVP Crisis and Prevention Center with fundraising, marketing and outreach efforts serving low-income communities. NH Life Span Respite Coalition (Nashua, NH)—Outreach VISTA: The NH Lifespan Respite Outreach VISTA will work with the many contacts from the coalition organizations as well as provide an introduction to their respective organizations. NH Afterschool Network ACROSS NH (Bedford, NH) - Outreach VISTA: Over 60,000 children in NH would attend an afterschool program IF one was available & accessible to them. Put your social media & tech savvy to work to help NHAN and ACROSS NH make this a reality. Patriot Resilient Leader Ins. (Gilford, NH) - Outreach/ Development VISTA: Make a difference in the lives of our veterans! Assist Camp Resilience in helping veterans recover their physical, mental and emotional well-being. Public Health Council of Upper Valley (Lebanon, NH) – Partnership Coordinator VISTA: Increase perception of the Public Health Council's role and value to improving access to health and wellbeing among communities and organizations throughout our region through fundraising and outreach efforts. Society of St. Vincent de Paul (Exeter, NH) - Development VISTA: Assist The Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Exeter in development and increase resources for low-income communities as well as planning major fund-raising Gala Volunteer NH (Concord, NH)—Resource Development VISTA: Build relationships with corporate and nonprofits, gain more resources for NH citizens, and help Volunteer NH provide more services to more low income people!
For more information about any of our open VISTA positions, visit our website at: http://cc-nh.org/vista OR contact Renee Perreault, CCNH VISTA Program Coordinator 603-669-9725 x 241 rperreault@nh-cc.org
March 6– 10, 2017 AmeriCorps Week is held in March every year to recognize the commitment of AmeriCorps members and alums by highlighting the extraordinary impact AmeriCorps makes across the nation every day. On Friday, March 10, AmeriCorps members from across the state were assigned to various organizations for a morning of service. There were about 160 members spread out through the greater Manchester and Concord areas at host sites including: Girls at Work, Families in Transition, NH Food Bank, New Horizons, OutFITters Thrift Store, Bear Brook State Park, Girl Scouts, Boys and Girls Club, some elementary schools, etc. Members got the chance to meet other AmeriCorps members serving in NH and it was encouraged to get lunch with each other! In the afternoon, members met at the Statehouse in Concord. Members from the house spoke to the group including Governor Sununu! A members from each program got the opportunity to share their experience during their service term. The day concluded with a tour of the statehouse. It was a great/busy day!
Mikayla Collins Mikayla is serving at the NH Council on Developmental Disabilities in Concord. The NHCDD promotes equal opportunities and full participation for people with developmental disabilities. The mission is mainly carried out through policy work, public awareness campaigns and educational/support programs. Mikayla decided to join the VISTA program because she wanted to work for organizations that do important things in an ethical manner! She became interested in the nonprofit sector during college and the VISTA program seemed like it is a great way to break into that field. Since starting in June 2016, Mikayla has done great things for the NHCDD. Her greatest accomplishments include professionalizing the organization’s image and some internal policies. She has been working with the executive director on revamping promotional materials and streamlining the volunteer and staff application process. Her year will be wrapping up in a few short months but she already has plans for after. She will be enjoying her postponed post-grad tour of Europe for two weeks. Once she returns, she will be taking over the VISTA Leader position for Catholic Charities! Mikayla’s greatest challenge has been mentally preparing herself for leaving the NHCDD once her 12-month commitment is up and knowing that she won’t be keeping things up. However, she has been keeping the next VISTA in mind and thinking of ways to make that transition easy so the next member can hit the ground running! To all of our current and future VISTA members: Be open to everything. Take advantage of the resources —webinars, events, trainings—that come with your VISTA service. Finally, don’t get too caught up in trying to stick exactly to your VAD. We thank Mikayla for her service and we are excited to see all the great things she accomplishes as VISTA Leader!
Sean Stalling Sean is a AmeriCorps VISTA member serving at City Year NH. City Year is a service-based organization that plugs into Title 1 schools around the country to help students bridge the gaps in their learning in order to obtain social and economic justice through education equity. Sean was a City Year member before she decided to join as a VISTA. She really loved the organization and wanted to continue to influence and work with them. As a VISTA member, she was able to leverage new skills that she hadn’t used before with City Year. One of Sean’s greatest accomplishments was helping to lead the corps members through the planning process of a week-long camp that they put together for the students City Year serves. After planning the camp for 3 months, it turned out to be an overall success! However, as we all know there are also challenges with every position. For Sean, her greatest challenge has been collaborating with her VISTA buddy in City Year. She is used to working alone and achieving goals so had to learn how to work closely with her peer. Sean’s advice to current and future VISTAs: Work for an organization that you love and can connect to. Read their mission, look up their background information and try to figure out if your passions align with theirs. Sean will be finishing up her VISTA year in July and plans to go to Graduate school for Elementary Education. She hopes to become a teacher in an urban community someday. THANK YOU, Sean, for your VISTA service!
The Governor’s Conference on Volunteerism is a conference put on by Volunteer New Hampshire for anyone who is interested in volunteering—including volunteer managers, national service members, non-profit leaders, and corporate social responsibility professionals. This year’s conference is on Tuesday, May 23rd from 8:00am-4:00pm at NHTI in Concord.
What: Governor’s Conference on Volunteerism Where: NHTI 31 College Dr., Concord, NH 03301 When: Tuesday, May 23rd Time: 8:00am-4:00pm
Some Presentation Topics
Advanced Grant Writing Great Strategies for Board Recruitment Public Speaking No Time to be Healthy? Join the Club! Trauma Informed Services Making Program Evaluation Meaningful Business and Nonprofit Partnering Risk Management for Nonprofits
Up Coming Webinars
Helpful Resources CCNH VISTA Facebook Page Stay updated and connect with other CCNH VISTA members past and present
Plan Your Professional Development April 5, 2017—2:00 EDT
https://www.facebook.com/ groups/nhccvistas/
VISTA Campus There are many resources here that can help you with the work, life as a VISTA, and postVISTA service http://www.vistacampus.gov/
Canva is a graphic design app that allows you to create and design different documents for your organization. It’s simple and easy to use!
Translating VISTA Service to Your Resume and Career April 13, 2017—2:00 EDT In Their Shoes: Perspectives on Spending Decisions Made by Americans Living in Poverty April 25, 2017—2:00 EDT Plan Your Professional Development May 10, 2017—2:00 EDT ACE Your next Job Interview May 11, 2017—2:00 EDT
Interested? All are on the VISTA Campus (http://www.vistacampus.gov/vista-webinars) as well as past webinars.
Future Events Tuesday, May 23rd: Governor’s Conference on Volunteerism 8:00am-4:00pm NHTI 31 College Drive, Concord, NH 03301 Friday, June 16th: Life After VISTA Meeting Times: TBA Families In Transition 161 S Beech St, Manchester, NH 03103 Cooking Matters at the Store Tour Date, time and location coming soon
If you know of any up coming events or activities please share them on our Facebook page or let me know and I’ll add them to our Google site!