AmeriCorps*VISTA at Tulane
Given the widespread destruction from Hurricane Katrina and the following floods, many of Tulane's community partners required assistance in accepting volunteers or repositioning their services to meet the needs of the New Orleans community. This program utilizes AmeriCorps*VISTA members to aid Tulane students, faculty, and staff as they assist community partners with capacity building as the city recovers. Each VISTA member works with one partner agency in the New Orleans area.
During their year of service VISTA members work at their assigned agency and meet on Fridays at Tulane for training, reporting, and other duties. VISTA members work on tasks for the agencies as identified by their site supervisors and receive training and support from Tulane which allows them to better serve the partner agencies and to further their personal and professional development.
Additionally, VISTA members organize the activities of Tulane service learning students and public service interns placed at their partner sites. The infrastructure and capacity created by Tulane's VISTA program will allow organizations and communities to utilize the services provided by public service students and the university more effectively and creatively. VISTA members serve as liaisons between Tulane and the partner agencies, helping to create job descriptions, prepare training sessions and orientations, organize public service students in activities designed to reduce poverty, enhance civic engagement, and encourage economic sustainability .
