As a graduate of UT Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs, I take great pride in the fact that it was Lyndon Johnson who established the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program. For the last two years, ENGLISH @ WORK has had the great fortune of having two outstanding VISTA members working with us. Bekah and Liz’s impact has been monumental and has allowed us to expand our program to reach even more workers in Central Texas. In their honor, ENGLISH @ WORK joins thousands of nonprofits across the country in celebrating AmeriCorps Week.
However, this celebration is bittersweet as it happens less than a month after we received word that Congress has made serious cuts to the Corporation for National and Community Service, the agency that runs AmeriCorps programs. We are living in a time when the economy, environment, and state and national policies are having increasingly devastating effects on the working poor, yet because of these cuts many organizations will have fewer resources than they had in past years when the need wasn’t as great.
But, we are not discouraged as it was President Johnson that said the Great Society is “a challenge constantly renewed.†Based on my experience with our contacts at the AmeriCorps State Office and with our own VISTA members, Bekah and Liz, I know that we are definitely up to the challenge.
In celebration of AmeriCorps Week, we’d like to share the impact ENGLISH @ WORK’s VISTA members have had on the organization over the past two years. Bekah and Liz have:
- Touched the lives of 300 immigrant and refugee workers and their families
- Recruited 50 volunteers who worked over 300 hours in our classes, office, and at events.
- Created – or facilitated the creation of – the following products for the organization:
- A comprehensive volunteer handbook,
- ENGLISH @ WORK volunteer information session presentation and materials,
- Volunteer Train the Trainer presentation and materials,
- Updated curricula with embedded goal setting activities,
- Intake and outtake packets, including feedback forms,
- Compilations of critical student and volunteer data,
- Customizable curriculum templates for E@W’s target industries, and
- Student follow-up interview template.
- Contributed to projects related to immigrants and public safety, health literacy, and tracking state legislation, and providers’ service capacity.
- Influenced E@W’s philosophy towards professionalization of the ESL field, volunteer management, and social justice.
Incredible!
Stay tuned for a post later this week as we’ll be highlighting our VISTA members’ personal experiences in the ENGLISH @ WORK community.
– Maile