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VISTA Projects
VISTA members may serve at thirteen non-profit organizations around the Lansing area.
Service areas target:
Child and
youth development remain high priority for many communities in the
Capital Area. Census data indicates that some
Lansing
neighborhoods show rates of child poverty as high as 24%. In Ingham County,
23% of the population is under 18 years of age, and 12.1% of family
households are headed by single females, pointing to the high potential
for poverty in families with few resources.
Several faith-based and community organizations continue to
address the need to support community children, youth and their families
via early childhood and after-school projects with which VISTA members will work. Early childhood reading projects,
and after-school and summer activities to engage children in creative
visual arts experiences are examples of projects that will require
volunteer’s expertise to create and manage.
Community
re-entry by vulnerable populations, including the homeless,
ex-offenders, refugees and youth aging out of foster care, has been
recognized as a significant problem for
Lansing
communities. Ingham
County’s Homeless
Management Information System (HMIS)
has produced data showing 4,000 unique individuals have sought
homeless or housing services since 2004 , with as many as 450 requests
per day, half of which are from families. The tri-county area of Eaton,
Ingham and Clinton counties estimates that, by 2008, the Michigan
Prisoner Re-entry Program will be handling 350-450 open cases. With a
recidivism rate of over 50% where parolees are not involved in aftercare
programs, early intervention is key, as the poorest of
Lansing’s neighborhoods feel the brunt of the
problem. The 2000 US Census stats indicates that in Ingham County alone
there were 1,783 individuals in institutional
care (corrections, nursing homes, juvenile centers, etc.) that at
some time would need assistance in re-entry into their communities.
VISTA members will help design, develop and implement housing, job
placement, language development, financial literacy etc. for re-entering
populations in a variety of projects.
Neighborhood
revitalization through community planning and capacity building has
been found to be a key ingredient to strong, vibrant cities that can
respond to the needs of its residents. Ingham County has been identified as having the fourth
largest concentration of poverty in
Michigan, with the median income having dropped
more than $5,000 since 2000. Many of Lansing’s inner city
neighborhoods are home to large numbers of low-income residents (up to
56%), with high percentages of housing unit vacancies and low percentage
of owner-occupied dwellings. Effects of this include high transience and
a lack of “community” amongst its residents. VISTAs will play a key role
in designing, developing and implementing leadership, volunteer,
organizational and communications and fund development projects in an
effort to bring economic and social vitality back into these
communities.
Financial asset development is an
important part of household financial security and a pervasive need for
individuals and families living in poverty-ridden Lansing neighborhoods,
some with up to 41% of its residents at or below the poverty level. As
of July, 2006, the local Bureau of Labor and Statistics quoted Lansing's
unemployment rate at 6.9%, leaving many residents without employment
options. Census data released August, 2006 show Lansing residents living
at or below the federal poverty line compromise 24.2% of the total
population of Ingham County. State funding for adult education has
plummeted in recent years, leaving both new and long-time Lansing
residents needing English as Second Language classes, GED classes,
certificate training, vocational training, etc. without recourse. VISTA
members will be placed in effected communities to improve household
financial security and asset development through financial education,
job placement, Earned Income Tax Credit promotion, etc.
Human Services Referral is
intricately woven throughout the above four areas and integral to each.
VISTAs will work recruiting, training and supervising volunteers and
mentors to help increase referrals. They will also help oversee the
process for identifying at-risk clientele and develop referral policies
and creating/managing databases for referral tracking, resources used
and those needed in the areas of child and youth development, community
re-entry by vulnerable populations, neighborhood revitalization and
financial asset management.
VISTA sites include:
For more information please contact the Project Coordinator, Mary
ZumBrunnen, at (517) 887-4594 or email: mzumbrunnen@ingham.org
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