Two years ago, Tina Sweeten-Lunsford had a 40-hour a week volunteer at the Columbus Arts Council.
Sweeten-Lunsford, executive director with the CAC, wanted to do what she could to get the volunteer some benefits. She remembered that as a young woman she had been a VISTA volunteer and ended up in Alaska with a $423-a-month stipend.
She looked into the program, which is now called AmeriCorps VISTA, and hoped to bring it to Columbus. She wrote a grant proposal and it worked out. Since then, the VISTA program has led to nearly 8,500 hours worth of volunteer efforts in the Golden Triangle.
Today, there are 10 VISTA volunteers in the area.
The volunteers make a year-long commitment to serve at a local nonprofit. Depending on where they are chosen to volunteer, they have a variety duties, but the overall focus is aimed at fighting illiteracy, improving health services, fostering economic development and assisting low-income areas of the community, according to the Americorps VISTA website.
Each one gets a $11,400 stipend for the year, health insurance, child care reimbursements and help with student loans.
Sweeten-Lunsford, as the coordinator for the local VISTA program, interviews potential volunteers. It is a national program and volunteers from all over the country apply for the program. Locally, though, Sweeten-Lunsford aims to find volunteers from Lowndes County.
The requirements: be 18 years old or older, have a high school diploma and either an associates degree or three years of work experience.
It is, she said, a win-win.
Local nonprofits get a fulltime volunteer — at no cost to them — to help them in their efforts. And the volunteers — they range in age from early 20s to 60s — gain experience and fulfillment, Sweeten-Lunsford said.
Golden Triangle nonprofits with volunteers through the VISTA program:
■ Columbus YMCA
■ Contact Helpline
■ HEARTS After-school tutoring program
■ Helping Hands and Loaves and Fishes
■ Imagination Library
■ Boys and Girls Club of the Golden Triangle
■ Columbus-Lowndes Public Library
■ Modern Woodmen of America
■ Sally Kate Winters Family Services
■ Habitat for Humanity
■ Fathers Child Ministry
■ Columbus Arts Council
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