Current Projects
Now accepting applications for the following projects:
| Location | Project Name |
| Humboldt County | Food for People – Community Education and Outreach Program |
| Humboldt County | Humboldt Community Alliance with Family Farmers |
| Humboldt County | The Ink People - The Coffee Opp |
| Humboldt County | Six Rivers Planned Parenthood |
| Humboldt County | Redwood Coast Energy Authority |
| Humboldt County | RCAA Community Garden |
| Humboldt County | RCAA - Energy Services Project |
| Humboldt County | RCAA - Straight Up AmeriCorps Program |
| Humboldt County | United Indian Health Services – Traditional Resources Program |
CSBG Programs
| Location | Project Name |
| Los Angeles County | ACCES/SCF |
| Amador, Tuolome Counties | Amador and Tuolome Community Action Agency |
| Marin County | Community Action Marin County |
| Colusa, Glenn, Trinity Counties | Community Action Partnership of Colusa, Glenn and Trinity Counties |
| Riverside County | Community Action Partnership of Riverside County (CAP Riverside) |
| San Bernadino County | Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County |
| Santa Barbara County | Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara County |
| Solano County | Community Action Partnership of Solano County |
| Sonoma County | California Human Development |
| Tehama County | Community Action Agency of Tehama County |
| Tulare County | Community Action Agency of Tulare County |
| Los Angeles County | Foothill Unity Center, Inc. of Los Angeles County |
| Mendocino County | North Coast Opportunities, Inc. of Mendocino County |
| Location | Project Name |
| Humboldt County | North Coast Big Brothers Big Sisters |
| Marin, Napa, Solano, Sonoma Ctys. | Big Brothers Big Sisters of the North Bay |
| Marin County | Centerforce LIFE Project |
| Riverside County | We Care San Jacinto Valley |
| Tehama County | Tehama County Dept. of Education Mentoring Program |
| San Diego County | YMCA Y-FRIENDz Mentoring Program |
| Sacramento County | Folsom Cordova Comm. Partnership |
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the North Bay
In Marin, Napa and Solano County/City, there are as many as 6,800 children of incarcerated parents, many of whom need a caring and consistent adult in their lives. It is the goal of this project to develop and strengthen the capacity of local partner mentoring organizations, including faith-based entities, to serve children of incarcerated parents by cultivating a cadre of quality volunteers to serve as mentors to be matched to participating program youth. During this three-year project VISTA members will educate the community regarding the need for mentors in an effort to increase the number of mentors matched to youth. VISTA members will build capacity of participating programs to serve youth by recruiting, screening, and referring mentors to appropriate programs to assist in sustaining mentoring activities.
VISTA members will organize community service, recreational, educational and cultural activities which will provide mentor-mentee matches with opportunities to build their relationships within a group setting and at no cost to the match or program. A series of comprehensive trainings, inclusive of curriculum and study materials, will be developed and facilitated by the VISTA member and BBBS Staff
Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
Centerforce LIFE Project
Centerforce has over 30 years of experience as a non-profit agency that provides services, education and advocacy for prisoners and their families. Leaders in Future Environments (LIFE) is a specific Centerforce program that provides mentors for San Francisco Bay Area youth between 11-18 years of age who have an immediate family member in jail or prison. The program serves youth in Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo, Contra Costa, and Marin Counties. LIFE is a prevention-based program that seeks to break the intergenerational cycle of crime and incarceration by providing on-going support and positive role modeling.
The VISTA member will conduct the following activities: donation solicitations and/or fundraising to support program capacity increases and enhance current services provided to both the mentors and mentees; youth participant and adult mentor recruitment; community outreach and education about the project and our target population; program and administrative support to the Children and Families Department at Centerforce; research to maintain information and community referrals network for participants and their families; educational material development (for youth); support-planning and facilitation of program events; assist project evaluation efforts and conduct quarterly confidential surveys.Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
ACCES/SCF
Association of California Community and Energy Services and the Southern California Forum are non-profit associations of agencies that provide energy efficiency and other services to low-income communities. The associations need a liaison between the member entities to assist on energy efficiency and solar projects for low-income households. This includes tasks such as communications, setting meetings, proposal research and writing and actual field training, follow-up and data collection. The goal is to provide agencies with opportunities to expand services in solar to all low-income communities. All activities will be statewide but sourced in the Los Angeles area.Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
Food for People – Community Education and Outreach Program
Food for People’s anti-hunger activities have included a focus on nutrition education and access to food stamp benefits as a means of reducing hunger and improving health and we have coordinated the Food Stamp Task Force since 1999. The VISTA would be working with staff to extend nutrition education activities and food stamp and other federal food program outreach activities to other community based programs, including Family Resource Centers, Community Health Centers and Food for People’s network of food pantries located throughout Humboldt County.
Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
Humboldt Community Alliance with Family Farmers
The Humboldt chapter of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (HCAFF) works to educate the public about family farming's important role in society; to develop new market opportunities for low-income farmers; and to promote the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. Nutrition is at the heart of many of our most pressing children's health issues. In Humboldt County, 42% of youth over the age of five and 46% of adults are overweight according to California Food Policy Advocates. By educating the low-income population on the benefits of a healthy diet, we will enable them to make more educated food choices and prevent diet-related disease.
The VISTA member will assist HCAFF to develop infrastructure so that we can increase our nutrition education activities and ultimately decrease and/or prevent diet-related disease. Main VISTA activities will include: increasing project visibility, developing agency infrastructure, sustaining program activities, and planning and hosting health-related special events for low-income K-6 students and their families.
Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
The Ink People - The Coffee Opp
Founded in 1979, The Ink People Center for the Arts is a collaborative public benefit arts and culture organization that connects the community with resources for cultural sensitivity and development. Our DreamMaker Program began in 1988 to foster self-directing projects inspired by individuals or groups who have a vision of making the community a better place through art. The Ink People provides administrative support and technical assistance to DreamMakers to ensure the best chance of success. Many of our current 43 DreamMakers respond to needs of disadvantaged youth in the community.
The Ink People recently adopted The Coffee Opp as its newest youth-led DreamMaker Program for teens of high school ages 14-19. The Coffee Opp's mission is to offer teens in the Eureka area a space free from drugs, alcohol, violence and discrimination and to provide leadership skills for their self-sufficiency. The VISTA member will help build the infrastructure necessary for project sustainability by developing and implementing a business plan, securing volunteers and training support, and obtaining funding to insure both launch and prolongation of The Coffee Opp. The VISTA member will conduct monthly planning meetings with youth and adult partners to establish partnerships within the community in addition to generating local and outside resources.
Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
North Coa st Big Brothers Big Sisters
North Coast Big Brothers Big Sisters (NCBBBS) in conjunction with Redwood Community Action Agency's (RCAA) Northcoast Mentor Program (NMP) in Mentoring Children of Prisoners is committed to provide one-to-one mentors for children in need. Through our program NCBBBS, whose mission is to promote personal and social responsibility through one-to-one mentoring will seek out children in need to match them with appropriate and screened mentors. NCBBBS will utilize an AmeriCorps VISTA member to either increase the community awareness of NCBBBS or to increase the amount of monetary support for the agency.
The VISTA member will either serve NCBBBS in the capacity of public relations specialist or fund development specialist. In which ever function the member serves they will work closely with the Executive Director and the appropriate board committee to create a plan of action regarding their respective positions. Upon the completion of the action plan the member will begin supporting the agency by following the action plan with the supervision of the Executive Director as detailed in our site specific work plan. The public relations specialist will concentrate on developing media connections making announcements, submitting articles, etc. The Fund Development specialist will concentrate on developing new funding streams for the agency including, but not limited to grants, special events, and sponsorships.
Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
RCAA - Energy Services Project
Community based education, outreach and service delivery is at the core of all of RCAA's energy, telecommunications and environmental services. The VISTA project would focus on expanding the Energy Services Division's existing education, outreach and service delivery capabilities. This would be achieved through the development of systems for tracking, organizing and evaluating efforts in addition to the creation of outreach strategies and materials. In addition, the VISTA member would be researching potential sources of funding to support these activities and submitting applications, as applicable.
The VISTA member will become knowable of the Energy Services Division, client profiles and demographics and funding sources; research, develop and produce education materials low-income households; develop and submit a monthly Management By Objectives (MBO) plan; research potential funding sources; produce database of potential funding sources and application criteria; assist with the development and submission of grant proposals, and conduct a public awareness campaign.
Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
Six Rivers Planned Parenthood
The VISTA member serving Six Rivers Planned Parenthood will work to educate the community about access to health care issues by engaging Humboldt State University and College of the Redwoods students as well as others. This VISTA member will increase the number of young supporters and philanthropists by staging events both on and off campus to educate and raise money for reproductive health care. The increase in the number of supporters will help ensure more stability in the future. The additional resources captured by our VISTA member will fund our efforts..
Project Application - PDF
PP Community Education VAD - PDF Format
PP Resource Development VAD - PDF Format
Redwood Coast Energy Authority
The Redwood Coast Energy Authority’s (RCEA) purpose is to develop and implement sustainable energy initiatives that reduce energy demand, increase energy efficiency, and advance the use of clean, efficient and renewable resources available in the region. The Redwood Coast Energy Information Center serves as a one-stop-shop for energy efficiency information for residential, commercial/industrial, and public agency energy users in Humboldt County.
This VISTA position will help bring a focus to RCEA’s efforts to help local governments to operate more efficiently, and will assist RCEA staff to develop public employee efficiency campaigns; convene a multi-jurisdictional “Local Government Energy Management Team”; coordinate trainings and workshops for public works staff; develop a data base of local government energy efficiency projects and opportunities; track and report on public agency energy use; and support development of local government energy management and greenhouse gas reduction plans.
Project Application - PDF
VAD - PDF Format
RCAA Community Garden
Redwood Community Action Agency’s Natural Resources Services Division actively strives to protect and restore community and watershed health. VISTA staff will work maintain a community garden that has facilitated increased self-sufficiency and access to food for low-income, Hmong immigrants. The VISTA member will expand the current use of the garden and will provide support to families that currently use garden plots to grow their own food. The VISTA member will also initiate other RCAA garden spaces and educational programs.
Project Application - PDF
VAD - PDF Format
RCAA Straight Up AmeriCorps Program
The Straight Up AmeriCorps program of Redwood Community Action Agency places AmeriCorps members in K-12th grade schools throughout Humboldt County to provide a consistent, positive presence in the lives of our community’s lowest achieving youth. Each year, 50 AmeriCorps provide one-on-one school-based mentoring services, coordinate and lead health and wellness activities for students during out-of-school time (lunch, recess, and after-school programs), engage youth in our community through volunteer opportunities; and, recruit volunteers to help meet the needs of our youth.
The VISTA member in this program will be focusing on sustainability of services through the development of a fundraising plan, including developing publicity materials to increase community awareness, developing a collaborative of business and service club partners, and researching foundations.
Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
United Indian Health Services – Traditional Resources Program
The Traditional Resources Program is in the process of evaluating the future vision and development of a strategic plan to be included in the overall United Indian Health Services Strategic Plan currently being developed. The AmeriCorps*VISTA member would assist with development of this project as well as building capacity of programs surrounding sustainability and policy development for efforts including waste reduction, alternative energy, Environmentally Preferred Purchasing, and other sustainable practices. In addition, the member would support fundraising efforts to further expand the capacity of the program and build upon educational components that compliment sustainable practices as they relate to native values.
Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
We Care San Jacinto Valley
We Care San Jacinto Valley, Inc. is a community-based nonprofit organization initially sponsored by San Jacinto Assembly of God, a congregation that has 15 years of experience and a proven track record of offering character education/academic tutoring to at-risk youth in California’s San Jacinto Valley. The purpose of the We Care San Jacinto Valley Mentoring Program is to promote healthy lifestyles and increase resiliencies among disadvantaged children of prisoners ages 4 to 18 and their families through one-on-one mentoring by caring adult role models and improved access to community resources.
Project Application - PDF Format
Tehama County Dept. of Education Mentoring Program
The Tehama County Mentoring program matches at-risk youth aged 5-18 with caring, trained mentors through 5 distinct mentoring programs. These are: One to One Mentors, Mentor-Tutors, Mentoring Moms (for pregnant and parenting teens), Cross Age Mentors and Lunch Buddies. Group activities for mentors and mentees are scheduled on a regular basis to promote socialization and connectedness to the community and mentoring program. There is special outreach to children of prisoners. The Tehama County Mentoring Program has been active since 2000. It is a program of the office of prevention at the Tehama County Department of Education.
The VISTA member will be primarily responsible for the Cross Age Mentoring Program, which matches elementary students in SERRF after school programs with high school students from four county high schools: Red Bluff High, Corning High, Los Molinos High and Mercy High. The VISTA will help identify children of incarcerated parents, with the goal of identifying an adult mentor for these children by the time the school year is complete and a high school mentor's commitment is complete.
Project Application - PDF Format
YMCA Y-FRIENDz Mentoring Program
Proficiency in Spanish strongly recommended for this position.
The VISTA members will be working with the Y-FRIENDz Mentoring Program. Y-FRIENDz provides one-to-one mentoring opportunities for youth, ages 4-15, who have a parent currently incarcerated. The program is funded through FYSB's Mentoring Children of Prisoners initiative and operates as part of the YMCA of San Diego County, Youth & Family Services Department. YMCA Youth & Family Services is one of the leading social services agencies in San Diego and has been providing these specific mentoring services for the past 3 years. In addition to the mentoring program, Youth & Family Services offers counseling services, kinship support services, after-school programming, drug awareness and prevention education, shelter services and more reaching over 50,000 children, youth and families each year.
To further strengthen the Y-FRIENDz program and expand our ability to meet community needs, VISTA members will assist with recruiting and screening potential mentors. They will also assist with planning events and activities for mentor-mentee matches, further developing community resources and coordinating ongoing mentor training. Members will work side by side with program staff to facilitate a quality mentoring program with appropriate supports for both youth and volunteers.
Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
FCCP Folsom Cordova Community Partnership
Folsom Cordova Community Partnership Roots and Horizons Program is a community-based, one-to-one mentoring program for children of prisoners living in the communities of Rancho Cordova and Folsom. These youth, ages 8 – 17, are matched with volunteer mentors and meet for a minimum of one-hour a week for one year. The AmeriCorps VISTA member will work to build partnerships with local community businesses, implement and enhance the program’s Annual Recruitment Plan by developing and participating in outreach activities, and participate in grant writing and donation solicitation to secure new funding and program materials and services.
Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency
The Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency plans to implement a Financial Literacy & Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Project, of which there are two key components. The first main component is the development and implementation of a VITA program to assist low-income households seeking hands-on guidance in filing their taxes and obtaining earned income tax credits. The second and complementary component is the development and implementation of a Financial Literacy Curriculum and Train the Trainer Educational Plan.
Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
California Human Development
The purpose of California Human Development (CHD) is to help low income people secure the education, training, job opportunities and improved social conditions they need to live with independence and greater human dignity. CHD provides a broad spectrum of human services programs serving low-income farmworkers and other rural populations. The ability to demonstrate the return-on-investment value will allow CHD to move from expressing success in terms of outcomes to assigning a true return value to each program. This enhanced capacity will create additional opportunities for CHD to better our clients.
Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
Community Action Partnership of Colusa, Glenn and Trinity Counties
The Colusa-Glenn-Trinity Community Action Partnership (The Partnership) is proposing a project called “Prosperity 4 All” (P4A or “the project”). P4A will bring together people, agencies and organizations to share ideas and to merge other strategies - some existing and some in concept - to promote improved prosperity in Colusa, Glenn and Trinity Counties. To carry out this vision of prosperity, the project has two specific but related outcomes: improved household economic well-being (defined as core family needs being met and a household income that sustains positive net worth and an ability to respond to short term crises) and improving youth educational attainment and career planning.
Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
Community Action Partnership of Riverside County (CAP Riverside)
Community Action Partnership of Riverside County (CAP Riverside) has become a data repository for both public and private sector partners. CAP Riverside will expand the capacity of its data repository to benefit low-income residents by enabling us to present a more accurate picture of poverty in the county to funders/resource providers.
Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
Foothill Unity Center, Inc. of Los Angeles County
The Foothill Unity Center is a multi-service agency that has been providing vital services to low income families and individuals for more than 28 years and currently serves eleven cities in the Foothill area of the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California. The goal of this project will be to build the capacity of client services and special events through development of community contacts, creation of policies and procedures and planning events to further increase the community awareness and participation.
Client Services Project Application - PDF Format
Client Services VAD - PDF Format
Rainbow's End Project Application - PDF Format
Rainbow's End VAD - PDF Format
Community Action Marin County
One of Community Action Marin’s newest programs is Prosperity Partners - a collaborative of 24 public/private agencies and local businesses that share a commitment to empower Marin’s low- to moderate-income families and individuals to achieve economic stability, opportunity, and upward mobility. The collaborative is working to develop an effective continuum of asset building opportunities that will move families and individuals along a path from breaking even to getting ahead. Prosperity Partners is designed to leverage existing resources from its partner organizations and build capacity for the whole collaborative by enhancing current services and creating new programs only as needed.
Prosperity Partners Project Application - PDF FormatProsperity Partners VAD - PDF Format
Marin Jobs Project Application - PDF Format
Marin Jobs VAD - PDF Format
North Coast Opportunities, Inc. of Mendocino County The North Coast Opportunities (NCO) Community Action “Gardens Project”
North Coast Opportunities, Inc. of Mendocino County The North Coast Opportunities (NCO) Community Action “Gardens Project” has successfully developed a countywide support network for sixteen community and school based gardens and nutrition programs, developed five new gardens, and is currently developing five additional gardens. With a strong grass-roots orientation and its mission to help low income and disadvantaged people, and where possible, to assist them to become self-sufficient, NCO has been at the forefront of developing programs and services that really work. As a Community Action Agency, NCO has the flexibility to develop and implement new models of effective food and nutrition services by integrating internal programming and funding sources.
Project Application - PDF FormatVAD - PDF Format
Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County
Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County (CAPSBC) enjoys a great diversity of funding for its programs, however the continuing contraction of the economy is expected to have a negative impact on charitable giving in 2009 as individuals, and institutions attempt to conserve funds. CAPSBC is determined to develop new sources of revenue to bolster the existing programs in place and meet the needs of the people we serve, thereby strengthening the community. Increasing unrestricted funds for the agency to commit to direct client services or leveraging other grants is essential in meeting our most critical client needs: employment training/re-training and financial literacy and management. Project Application - PDF FormatVAD - PDF Format
Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara County
The programs run by Community Action Commission are sensitive to the changing demographics, political climate and economic conditions that directly affect their clients. A regular and periodic review of the needs through the community needs assessment keeps the programs on course and aids in the process of developing new programs to address the needs. Our strategic plan requires we review our current goals and objectives regularly to determine whether we are still doing the work that meets the needs of low-income families and individuals. This process relies on group meetings with low-income families and individuals as well as county government, welfare agencies and other service agencies. Project Application - PDF FormatVAD - PDF Format
Community Action Partnership of Solano County
Community Action Partnership of Solano (CAP Solano) works with over 42 nonprofit and faith-based organizations in Solano County providing technical support, training, administrative assistance, and monetary resources to help strengthen agencies working to end poverty and homelessness. A base for information sharing includes the Solano Nonprofit Coalition, and the Solano Continuum of Care. The Volunteer Coordinator Program will develop a single point of contact for the county’s volunteer efforts, either to do volunteer work or for organizations needing volunteers while also focusing on developing a volunteer system within each of the seven cities and connecting with the county systemProject Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
Tehama County Community Action Agency
The County of Tehama Community Action Agency (TCCAA) is located in rural northern California with a population of 60,508 spread over 2,976 square miles. TCCAA is in the early stages of advancing their Asset Development Project throughout Tehama County. There are several distinct deliverables that will be accomplished through this project including: Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Programs, Financial Literacy Programs, Food Resources, Asset Development opportunities, and Homeless Continuum of Care efforts. developing a volunteer system within each of the seven cities and connecting with the county system Project Application - PDF FormatVAD - PDF Format
Community Action Agency of Tulare County
Community Services & Employment Training, Inc. (CSET) is a program of the Community Action Agency in Tulare County. CSET is proposing an AmeriCorps*VISTA project to strengthen the newer asset development programs (i.e. Financial Management Trainings, Microenterprise Assistance, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, and Youth Leadership Development), which are high impact and high potential programs but currently lack the infrastructure necessary to expand our capacity to serve clients.Project Application - PDF Format
VAD - PDF Format
If you have questions about any of the above positions, please email the VISTA Coordinator, or call (707) 269-2049 or (707) 269-2052, Monday-Friday, 8:30-5:00 Pacific time.