The Community Development Division has been approached by the Corporation for National and Community Service regarding submitting an application for AmeriCorps Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA) resources for FY2024-2025. The Division has been managing the Billings Metro VISTA Project since 2009.

The Billings Metro VISTA Project supports placements of AmeriCorps VISTA members at nonprofit organizations to reduce the risk of homelessness and create the tools people in poverty need to build sustainable futures. Priority focus areas include education, housing, employment, food security, access to healthcare and services benefiting veterans and military families. Members may also be trained in City-sponsored initiatives to share information and resources with other communities across Montana to further project reach, scope, and overall poverty impact. Examples include the development and implementation of a plan to affect homelessness; assistance in developing poverty-based impediments to housing access and equal opportunity; the expansion of services to assist veterans and their families; and the development and implementation of a homeless services survey.

City Council approval for the application would allow the Community Development Division to assist in application preparation and administration of activities on behalf of many community agencies including Family Service, Adaptive Performance Center, and Tumbleweed. Staff is preparing an application for members who may be placed at varying times throughout the year based on availability, including July, August, January, and February (one-year placements), etc.

Stakeholders include nonprofit organizations that are requesting Host Site status to implement a year-long poverty impact project and low-income citizens that would be assisted by the programming.
 

City Council may:

• Approve; or,
• Not Approve the submittal of an AmeriCorps VISTA grant application. Not approving the application would not be in alignment with past Council support of the AmeriCorps VISTA program in Billings over the past 15 years and the positive impact it has on the community.

For the current fiscal year, the Corporation for National and Community Service allocated a total grant award of over $332,500 to carry out the project. The Community Development Board recommended, and the City Council approved, $63,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding to support cost share members. These members are a priority and further the Division’s initiatives to impact poverty and homelessness, as per the Community Development Board’s request. Host Sites also contribute approximately $10,000 per year to support the project.