The Community Technology Centers (CTC) AmeriCorps*VISTA Project coordinates the recruitment, placement, training, and on-going support of VISTAs (full-time supported domestic Peace Corps volunteers) in nonprofits across the country that are using media, information and communications technologies to address the needs of poor and underserved communities. CTC VISTAs provide key human support for developing this work — recruiting volunteers, writing grants, researching and designing training programs, and implementing capacity-building technology projects.

Social networking tools — email, discussion lists, blogging, tagging, and shared video, all contributing to the VISTA resource wiki — support the collaborative self-help ethic that project administration and VISTA Leaders provide in sharing and developing program content and VISTA life survival pointers. The Project's Grassroots.org Techie award-winning application simplifies the application process for applicant organizations and integrates it with an overall management and support system.

Collaborations with national community media and technology organizations are supplementing the initial partnership with CTCNet. The project's growing community wireless support is provided in collaboration with the Association for Community Networking (AFCN). The NTEN-CTC VISTA Project is underway, working to expand resources for the nonprofit technology assistance provider community. The ATA-CTC VISTA Project with the Alliance for Technology Access is placing VISTAs in organizations that make use of assistive technology and extend technology tools, resources, and skills to people with a variety of disabilities.

The Project has grown into the most popular program in the entire AmeriCorps online recruitment and placement system, so the pool of national applicants is an incredibly talented and committed one. As the oldest and most successful digital opportunities program supported by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the CTC VISTA Project provides strategic impact for the whole field of community media and technology and has unlimited potential for growth.

WHAT WE NEED:

While the Project can proceed under its current financial, administrative, and program support arrangements indefinitely, the alleviation of the restraints they provide and the provision of project fee scholarships can be addressed by the contributions of corporate and foundation partners to support the match required by the Corporation. A development effort to address these needs is currently underway.

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