AmeriCorps*VISTA Member at Lawrence Tech

Elyse Mathos, a 2010 graduate of Michigan State University, is Lawrence Tech's second Michigan Campus Compact (MCC) AmeriCorps*VISTA for the 2010-2011 year of service.  Her primary responsibility is to promote a fully developed program of experiential learning that incorporates civic engagement, community outreach and reflection by coordinating, monitoring, and developing all volunteer opportunities for undergraduate students.

Program Goals

There are three goals for the MCC AmeriCorps*VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program:
1. Create and sustain effective partnerships between higher education institutions and community organizations that address the needs of those living in poverty in Michigan communities, with special emphasis on those impacting children and youth.
2. Provide leadership for and coordinate community service and/or service-learning initiatives to connect those on college campuses with community organizations that address the needs of those in poverty in Michigan communities.
3. Promote and document effective partnerships between higher education institutions and community organizations in order to build public awareness of the needs of those living in poverty in Michigan communities and the responsibility of all to address these needs.

*VISTA Role

The AmeriCorps*VISTA members act as transformative agents between institutions of higher education and their surrounding communities. AmeriCorps*VISTA members build, support, and develop the capacity for MCC member institutions and their students to be better stewards of the community, and to gain a richer and more valuable experience outside the classroom. *VISTA members live among the community they serve and earn poverty-level wages during their year of service.

Background

AmeriCorps*VISTA is a full-time national service program for men and women ages 18 and older interested in developing lasting solutions to the problems of poverty in America. AmeriCorps*VISTA members address the problems of poverty in a particular community and mobilize community resources while increasing the capacity of the low-income community to solve its own problems. AmeriCorps*VISTA is part of the AmeriCorps national network of service programs within the Corporation for National and Community Service.