The seasons are changing almost as fast as our VISTA network! We’re excited to welcome 26 new VISTAs as they start a year of service increasing the capacity of our member organizations to educate the public and community stakeholders on housing issues and homelessness; help agencies better serve their communities; and develop, expand, and generate resources for programs that increase and preserve affordable housing.
Everyone deals with change in different ways, and everyone could use some help getting used to it. The beginning of a VISTA term can be as confusing and overwhelming as it is exciting and motivating. Each VISTA has tasks and projects to work on from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), Housing Action, and their specific host site. Some members are adjusting to living in an entirely new area, and most of them are getting used to working with a brand new organization.
That’s why our VISTA team traveled all around the state in the past few months to stop by the organizations hosting new VISTA members for the 17-18 VISTA program year. We discussed best practices for on-boarding new VISTAs, meeting with supervisors, creating accurate year-long work plans, and working on professional development goals. All of our VISTA members are ending poverty in different ways, but one thing is for sure: they are all making change happen throughout Illinois.
Check out more pictures from the site visits below, and come back to our blog throughout the rest of the year to see what our amazing VISTAs can do!
