Serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA with The Plantory cohort was an awesome opportunity to learn about capacity building and how a nonprofit operates “behind the scenes.” Near the end of my term I spoke with a Plantory intern in an interview about why I enjoyed serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the cohort; having a dedicated support system of others serving at the same time and knowledge staff at the Plantory helped me tremendously during my year of service, like I discuss the footage below. During my year of service with the Kentucky Interpreter and Translator Association , I learned more about my community, increased language access in the Commonwealth, strengthened many professional skills, and collaborated with lots of amazing organizers. I am incredibly grateful for the dedicated leaders and hard-working small businesses who serve my community!
If you are interested in becoming an AmeriCorps VISTA, I highly recommend joining a cohort like I did with the Plantory. Having a group of other VISTA members to collaborate with or rely on impacted my entire experience in such a positive way! The other AmeriCorps VISTAs served other nonprofits in the area, which developed amazing networking opportunities for myself within the community. Although we served different nonprofits, we learned from our unique experiences and could share insight that helped others succeed with daily tasks or greater projects like big events. Each VISTA member shared their own knowledge and skills with the cohort so I constantly learned about grant writing, fundraising, social media marketing, community outreach, and more from them.
Read my AmeriStory to better understand ym year of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA.