The VISTA Project

The Ohio CDC Association will be taking applications for the placement of AmeriCorps*VISTA Members to begin service November 2010. To view the 2010 Fall VISTA RFP, click here.

The VISTA Ohio Community Revitalization Project (OVCR). Created in 1995 as a partnership between the Ohio CDC Association and the Corporation for National Service, the VCR Project places AmeriCorps* VISTA Members with community development corporations throughout the state.

VISTA Members create lasting change by assisting with affordable housing development, homebuyer education, economic literacy programs, Individual Development Accounts, microenterpise, foreclosure prevention, vacant and abandoned properties and community organizing. VISTA members also recruit volunteers and conduct fundraising.

VISTA members serve a host site full-time for one calendar year (no outside employment is allowed.) VISTA sponsoring organizations must be a voting member of the Ohio CDC Association. Limited VISTA slots are available; some slots will be reserved for housing only initiatives. Sponsoring sites will be responsible for meeting quarterly reporting requirements and completing monthly timesheets.

Ohio CDC Association currently has two types of VISTA slots available: Cost-Share and Standard. Cost-Share VISTA members specifically develop and create homeownership education and counseling programs, foreclosure prevention programs, home improvement and home repair programs, IDA homeownership programs, supportive housing, and activities to address vacant and abandoned properties.

Funding for the Cost-Share VISTA members comes from the Ohio Housing Trust Fund (OHTF). Standard VISTA members can focus on a range of activities including affordable housing, community economic development, IDAs, microenterprise, foreclosure prevention, vacant and abandoned properties and community outreach and organizing that supports community-based development objectives.

If you are interested in being a VISTA site with Ohio CDC Association please contact Brittany Porter at (614) 461-6392, ext. 205 or by email at bporter@ohiocdc.org

Current Members

Chris Babbs, Increase CDC, Columbus
Emelio DiSabato, Slavic Village Development, Cleveland
Denine Francis, East Columbus Community Development, Inc., Columbus
Gloria Johnson, East Akron Neighborhood Development Corporation, Akron
Lashanna Martin, Working In Neighborhoods, Cincinnati
Kelly McCormick, Homes on the Hill CDC, Columbus
Sheila Nicole Miller, Nazareth Housing Development Corporation, Akron
Unity Powell, Famicos Foundation, Cleveland
Laura Rucker, Over the Rhine Community Housing, Cincinnati
Kyle Smith, Over the Rhine Community Housing, Cincinnati
Charlene Stover, Three Rivers Housing Corp, Athens
Michael Washburn, Imago Inc., Cincinnati
Jonathan Young, Slavic Village Community Development, Cleveland