City staff and the Community Development Board recommends that the City Council authorize submission of an application for AmeriCorps VISTA and authorize City staff to negotiate and finalize the project if awarded.

 

The Community Development Division has been approached by the Corporation for National and Community Service regarding the submission of an application for AmeriCorps Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA) resources for FY2022-2023. 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 of 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 healthcare access and expansion including a COVID-19 impact survey.

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 Tree Center, Chinook Horses, Family Promise, Billings Continuum of Care, and Adaptive Performance Center. 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), as well as Summer Associates who may participate in prioritized direct service activities including those that address summer learning loss, food distribution to children and families, and the recruitment and training of community-based volunteers.

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 with programming.
 

City Council may:
1) Approve the submittal of an AmeriCorps VISTA grant application; or
2) Not approve the submittal of an AmeriCorps VISTA grant application. Not approving the grant application would deprive the Billings community of valuable and in some cases critical support for existing and new programs to help fight homelessness and provide services for low income members of the community. Support for these services would be much more challenging to access outside the established AmeriCorps VISTA program.

For the current fiscal year, the Corporation for National and Community Service allocated a total grant award of over $466,000 to carry out the project. The Community Development Board recommended $25,000 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 $15,000 per year to support the project.
 

The AmeriCorps VISTA project is consistent with previous and ongoing projects managed by the City’s Community Development Division. There is an ongoing need for AmeriCorps VISTA members to execute poverty-impact initiatives via capacity building efforts at local agencies, as demonstrated by a consistent number of VISTA Host Site Proposals submitted by new organizations each year. City Staff has extensive experience in developing and managing the project including through ongoing recruitment, administration, and fiscal management of the project. AmeriCorps VISTA projects are examples of how the City can partner with various service organizations in order to continue making a difference working to alleviate poverty and homelessness.