To
supplement efforts of private, nonprofit organizations and Federal,
State, and local government agencies to eliminate poverty and poverty-related
problems by enabling persons from all walks of life and all age
groups to perform meaningful and constructive service as volunteers.
TYPES
OF ASSISTANCE:
Provision of Specialized Services. Place Cursor Here for Definition
USES
AND USE RESTRICTIONS:
Volunteer:
Provides full-time, full- year volunteers to local sponsoring organizations
to work on clearly- defined tasks which address the problems of
poverty. The volunteers live among the people they serve at subsistence
levels of support. All volunteers work to improve the community's
ability to solve its own problems. Members of the poor community
should actively participate in the development and implementation
of the project. Projects must be responsive to the needs and desires
of the people who are to benefit from them in order to be funded
by VISTA. Volunteers are not to supplant hiring or displace employed
workers, or impair existing contracts for service. No agency supervising
volunteers shall request or receive compensation for services of
the volunteers. Volunteers are not to be involved in, and funds
are not to be used for, religious activities, labor or anti-labor
organization, lobbying, or partisan or non-partisan political activities.
Volunteers may be recruited locally to serve in their own communities
or referred by the Corporation for National Service to sponsoring
organizations in other parts of the country based on the volunteers'
skills and project needs.
ELIGIBILITY
REQUIREMENTS:
Applicant
Eligibility: Sponsors applying for VISTA Volunteers
must be Federal, State or local government agencies or private,
nonprofit organizations. The project proposing to use the volunteers
must be designed to assist in the solution of poverty-related problems.
Beneficiary
Eligibility: Persons who are assisted by VISTA
project activities must be low-income and VISTA activities must
directly benefit the poor.
Credentials/Documentation:
Applicants must be bona fide public or private nonprofit organizations.
Nonprofit organizations must furnish proof of nonprofit status
and articles of incorporation.
Pre-application
Coordination: Application inquiry forms and
assistance in applying for Volunteers may be obtained through the
appropriate Corporation for National Service State Office. The application
form is submitted to the appropriate Corporation for National Service
State Office. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372,
"Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should
consult the office or official designated as the single point of
contact in his or her State for more information on the review process
the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance if
the State has selected the program for review.
Application
Procedure: Prospective sponsors apply through
Corporation for National Service State Offices. The Governor or
other chief executive officer of the State concerned has the right
to disapprove programs submitted within 45 days of their submission.
Award
Procedure: New renewal project applications
are reviewed and judged by Corporation for National Service State
Offices with final decisions rendered by the Corporation State
Director.
Deadlines:
Contact the Corporation for National and Community Service State
Office for project application deadlines.
Range
of Approval/Disapproval Time: Not applicable.
Appeals:
No formal appeals for denial of initial project application; however,
regulations provide for hearings on terminations and suspensions,
and opportunity to show cause in cases of denial of refunding.
Renewals:
Renewal applications are required annually at least 115 days prior
to the end of the project period. Renewals are subject to the
same review procedures as new projects.
ASSISTANCE
CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula
and Matching Requirements: This program has
no statutory formula or matching requirements.
Length
and Time Phasing of Assistance: VISTA Volunteers
are assigned to a project for a given length of time, generally
1 year, as designated in a Memorandum of Agreement between Corporation
for National Service and the sponsor. Individual volunteers commit
themselves to a 1- year term of service which may be extended
with sponsor and Corporation for National Service approval.
POST
ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Reports:
Quarterly Project Progress Reports in first year; semi- annual thereafter
unless requested by Corporation State Office.
Audits:
Sponsors are subject to audit by Corporation for National Service.
Records:
Sponsors are expected to maintain records pertaining to volunteer
assignments and training activities for 3 years after the end
of the project year.
FINANCIAL
INFORMATION:
Account
Identification: 44-0103-0-1-506.
Obligations:
(Provision of Specialized Services) (Direct program costs only)
FY 01 $73,000,000; FY 02 est $80,574,000; and FY 03 est $86,000,000.
Range
and Average of Financial Assistance: Not applicable.
During fiscal year 2001, approximately 6,000 VISTA Volunteers served
1,200 sponsoring organizations in 50 States, the District of Columbia,
and Puerto Rico in a variety of poverty-related programs. The programs
are focused on hunger, homelessness, unemployment, health, economic
development including welfare to work , and illiteracy; including
literacy problems faced by America's children. Approximately 50
percent of VISTA's resources are focused on the problems of disadvantaged
youth, who comprise the largest category, by age, of America's poor.
Many of these activities address the problems of substance abuse,
delinquency, child abuse, and illiteracy. In accordance with statutory
requirements, a VISTA recruiter is assigned to each of Corporation
for National Service's Five Cluster offices. VISTA resources are
allocated among Corporation for National Service Cluster and State
offices in accordance with poverty indices within those areas.
REGULATIONS,
GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:
VISTA Program Guidelines, 60 FR 7172 February 7, 1995; VISTA Handbook
for Volunteers and Sponsors (Corporation for National Service Handbook
4302.0.)
INFORMATION
CONTACTS:
Regional
or Local Office: See Corporation for National
Service Cluster and State Program Offices list in Appendix IV of
the Catalog.
Headquarters
Office: Director of VISTA, Corporation for
National Service, 1201 New York Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20525.
Telephone: (202) 606-5000 or toll-free 800-424-8867.
Web
Site Address: http://www.nationalservice.org
EXAMPLES
OF FUNDED PROJECTS:
VISTA has helped to set up drug abuse action centers, literacy programs,
food distribution efforts and shelters for runaway youth, and the
homeless. For example, VISTA Volunteers provided assistance to families
involved in a self-help housing project for low-income families
by helping them to select building sites and affordable house plans,
obtaining cost estimates for construction materials and subcontracting
required, obtaining home ownership loans and providing the families
with information on loan payments, credit counseling and home ownership
responsibilities. VISTA volunteers assigned to a nonprofit organization
in New York provided low-income adults with tutoring services to
upgrade their reading skills and to improve their employment potential
through computer literacy activities. Volunteers serving in technology
projects assess local technology needs, develop and design technology
plans, establish community Internet sites, develop web sites and
recruit community volunteers for such activities as installing computer
hardware and software and staffing computer labs. VISTA Volunteers
through a health project provided coordination services from a hospital
and local health organizations, which enabled services and resources
to be provided to medically under-served seniors in ten target neighborhoods.
Volunteers also recruited local volunteers to provide health screenings
and referral services in each neighborhood.
CRITERIA
FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS:
All of the following elements must be found in the applicant's proposal
for new or renewal projects. The project must: (1) be poverty oriented
in scope and comply with the provisions of the Domestic Volunteer
Service Act of 1973 applicable to VISTA and all published regulations
and Corporation for National Service policies; (2) show that the
project goals, objectives and Volunteer tasks are attainable within
the time frame during which the Volunteers will be serving on the
project and will produce a measurable result; (3) provide for reasonable
efforts to recruit and involve low-income community residents in
the planning, development and implementation of the VISTA project;
(4) provide for frequent and effective supervision of the Volunteers;
(5) identify resources needed and make them available for Volunteers
to perform their tasks; and (6) have the management capability to
carry out the project.
