A Summer with Hesed House
Back to main blog page » This August, we headed to Aurora to visit Hesed House, a comprehensive homeless resource center where five VISTA Summer Associates have spent the last couple of months working on a wide variety of projects. They’ve been running a...
Time Flies When You’re Having Fun
Back to main blog page » The saying “time flies when you’re having fun” is a good way to summarize the many adventures I’ve had at Housing Action Illinois. I moved to Chicago for the polluted air and loud streets, never one to miss out on the city life,...
Catching Up with DuPage Habitat for Humanity
Back to main blog page » This summer, four Summer Associates have been working hard on a variety of projects at DuPage Habitat for Humanity. They’ve been coordinating volunteers on construction sites, updating the organization’s website, collecting...
Working to End Veteran and Chronic Homelessness
Back to main blog page » On the last day of the Zero:2016 Action Camp in Denver, I received a small plastic soldier. I was to take the soldier back with me as a reminder of the personal commitment I was making to ending veteran homelessness. The commitment...
Orienting and managing volunteers? Check out these free resources
Back to main blog page » We know that many VISTAs help their organizations with recruiting, orienting, and managing volunteers, so when we saw that the Executive Service Corps (ESC) has developed free templates for volunteer orientations, performance...
“I Have a Lot to Say”: Stories from Heartland Housing Residents
Back to main blog page » "I have a lot to say," starts Stacey Brown in her story, "New Beginnings," published in a 2017 issue of Real Conditions magazine. Stacey describes her struggles with being bipolar and how becoming a mother has changed her. "She is...
Launching our Summer Associate VISTA program!
Back to main blog page » Our VISTA Summer Associates Program has officially launched! For the next ten weeks, twenty individuals from all over Illinois will be serving their communities by working at nonprofit organizations in our state. These Summer Associates’...
Springing into Spring: 2017 Retreat
Back to main blog page » Each year, we have two retreats for VISTAs. During our spring retreat (this year's happened on May 5), we talk about wrapping up VISTA tasks and passing projects on to staff or incoming VISTAs, and we also talk about what our VISTA members...
Beyond VISTA: What Are Other AmeriCorps Programs Like?
Back to main blog page » During my final semester of college, AmeriCorps NCCC seemed like an attractive alternative to entering the corporate job market. NCCC offers the ability to travel the U.S. working and living with people age 18-24 on a multitude of different...
From VISTA to Full-Time Staff Member: Rachel Contos
Back to main blog page » When I started college in 2011, I had a vision of myself becoming a theology professor—but rather than going in the direction of teaching, I decided I wanted to work more directly in the community and wasn't sure where to start. To prepare for...
The Illinois Affordable Housing Support Project
Housing Action Illinois manages a network of nearly 30 AmeriCorps VISTAs placed with our member organizations. AmeriCorps VISTA is a national service program designed specifically to fight poverty, and our VISTA members commit to serve our communities full-time for a year. They fill a wide variety of roles, but all are aimed at fighting poverty and helping communities by expanding and improving the availability of decent, affordable, accessible housing in Illinois.