AmeriCorps VISTA is the national service program designed specifically to fight poverty. Authorized in 1964 and founded as Volunteers in Service to America in 1965, VISTA was incorporated into the AmeriCorps network of programs in 1993. VISTA has been on the front lines in the fight against poverty in America for more than 45 years.
To learn more general information about AmeriCorps VISTA:
is the sponsor organization for the 12 varied sites listed below, incorporating a total of 21 VISTAs and 2 VISTA Leaders.
AS220 AmeriCorps*VISTA Sites 2012-2013
Alternative Educational Programming (AEP), Inc.
AEP provides alternative, non-traditional educational opportunities, resources and student support services through its College Readiness Program to high risk, low income, disadvantaged, first-generation and minority students, to help them make positive educational choices in their lives.
AS220 & AS220 Youth
AS220 provides administrative sponsorship for local non-profits’ AmeriCorps*VISTA program. AS220 encompasses three buildings downtown that showcase more than 100 visual artists and host thousands of performing artists annually. AS220 maintains 48 artist live-and-work studios, four galleries, performance space, community print shop, darkrooms, media arts lab, and fabrication lab.
AS220 Youth is a free arts education program serving young people age 14-21, with a special focus on those in the care and custody of the State. In addition to arts education, AS220 now offers DCYF-involved youth internships, employment, mentoring and housing. There are three teachings sites: the downtown AS220 Youth studios, The Urban Collaborative Accelerated Program (UCAP), and Rhode Island Training School (RITS), the State’s juvenile detention facility.
Breakthrough Providence
Breakthrough Providence has a dual mission: to create a pathway to college for low-income, academically motivated middle school students in Providence Public Schools, and to encourage talented high school and college students to pursue careers in education. Breakthrough Providence is one of the first chapters established in the Breakthrough Collaborative, a national non-profit organization that increases educational opportunity for high-potential, low-income middle school students and inspires outstanding college and high school students to pursue careers in education.
Providence ¡CityArts! for Youth, Inc.
Providence CityArts serves over 1,200 youth annually in afterschool, summer and in-school arts programming. At CityArts, access to quality arts learning is a core strategy for helping at-risk youth to gain the creative, social/behavioral attitudes and academic skills that lead to success in adulthood.
College Visions
Founded in 2004, CV coaches low-income and first-generation students to enter, succeed in, and graduate from college. Our mission is to empower low income and first-generation college-bound students to realize the promise of higher education by providing individualized advising and resources through college admissions, selection, and enrollment. College Visions promotes equal access to educational opportunities in historically under-served communities.
Highlander Charter School
Highlander has excelled in its mission to provide innovative, outstanding educational services to all students, addressing the issues of inequity prevalent in the world today. The school is currently working on major projects that will extend and expand the scope of the school to serve more community members. These projects include: an expansion to a Highlander High School, partnering with the City of Providence to develop and implement services to the Elmwood Community Center, and creating a longer school day for all students by engaging community partners in the learning process.
Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence (ISPN)
Our mission is to teach, by word and example, the principles and practices of nonviolence, and to foster a community that addresses potentially violent situations with nonviolent solutions. We work to build Dr. King’s ideal of the nonviolent Beloved Community. The 2012-13 VISTA Employment Specialist will help ISPN’s Youth Programs Department elaborate upon the efforts and initiatives developed by last year’s Employment Specialist.
Opportunities Industrialization Center of Rhode Island (OIC)
The mission of the OIC of Rhode Island is to provide workforce training, employment, and minority business development services to the underserved populations in the urban communities of Rhode Island for the purpose of providing hope an opportunity through effective collaboration and program development with the private and public sector.
Rhode Island for Community & Justice (RICJ)
RICJ is a social justice organization dedicated to fighting bias, bigotry and racism and promoting understanding and respect among all races, religions and cultures through advocacy, conflict resolution and education. Their purpose is to transform communities to be more inclusive and just by empowering leaders to make institutional change.
RiverzEdge Arts Project
RiverzEdge provides innovative pathways to success for youth and their communities through artistic creation, disciplined effort and economic self-reliance. In addition to the RiverzEdge Arts Project studio, they are part of Expanded Learning Opportunities based at Woonsocket High School. ELO’s mission is to provide all students with high-quality, experiential, and personalized learning opportunities beyond the traditional classroom setting as a pathway to graduation.
Social Ventures Partners Rhode Island (SVRI)
The Expanding Grassroots Economic Opportunities through Social and Micro Enterprise project aims to increase employment and opportunity in Rhode Island. The project will have a community empowerment approach, by working with grass roots organizations and their constituents, will provide sustainable solutions by diversifying and strengthening mission driven organizations through the development of social and micro enterprise, and build the capacity of organizations and their constituents through training, mentoring and financial support.
Youth in Action
Youth In Action is a partnership between youth, adults, and community where young people are at the forefront of creating positive social change. The VISTA project would provide the framework necessary for a team of YIA youth and staff to provide knowledge, technical assistance, and coaching to teachers and their students in order to establish new classroom tools, structures, and norms for student-centered learning.
