Key Dates:  AmeriCorps State and National Applications Due: April 3, 2009; 5 p.m. EST
Anticipated Award Announcement (VISTA): April 2009
Anticipated Date of Recovery Act VISTA positions filled: September 2009. 

VISTA positions awarded through the Recovery Act will be funded through September 30, 2010.

Program Information: The Recovery Act will fund expansion of the Corporation for National and Community Service AmeriCorps State and National and AmeriCorps VISTA programs.

• AmeriCorps State and National provides funds to local and national organizations and agencies committed to using national service to address critical community needs in education, public safety, health and the environment.  These organizations use their AmeriCorps funding to recruit, place, and supervise AmeriCorps members.  After successful completion of their term of service, AmeriCorps members earn an AmeriCorps Education Award that can be used to pay for college or graduate school at Title IV schools, or to repay qualified student loans. Fulltime AmeriCorps members also receive a modest living allowance, health care benefits, and child care.
• AmeriCorps VISTA is the national service program designed specifically to fight poverty. VISTA members commit to serve full-time for a year at a nonprofit organization or local government agency, working to fight illiteracy, improve health services, create businesses, and strengthen community groups.

Grant Information:

• AmeriCorps State and National: The purpose of this grant is to focus on employment and skills training, tutoring and literacy, financial literacy, home foreclosures and housing assistance, housing rehabilitation and access including weatherization and other energy-efficiency techniques, healthcare access and delivery, nonprofit capacity building, and volunteer generation and management.
• AmeriCorps VISTA: The funds will go towards recruiting 3,000 full-time VISTA members. To maximize impact of the funds, priority will be given to projects that work in the following areas: employment and skills training programs; financial planning; home foreclosure prevention and housing assistance; nonprofit capacity building; volunteer generation and management; and other activities that will support economic recovery in communities. The funds will also help expand existing VISTA programs by increasing the number of positions that will be available. The VISTA program will also support new projects with funding, particularly in areas where few existing projects exist.

Only current AmeriCorps grantees are eligible for these funds.

For More Information: For more complete information on AmeriCorps State and National. For more complete information on AmeriCorps VISTA.