Central College participates in Iowa Campus Compact

Central College is one of 15 Iowa Campus Compact VISTA sites, including college campuses and community organizations. Iowa Campus Compact’s AmeriCorps VISTA project is working to increase service learning courses among higher education institutions, mobilize volunteers to meet community needs, and to strengthen local Iowa communities.

AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) is a national service program providing full-time members to non-profit or faith-based organizations, colleges and public agencies to create and expand programs that bring low-income individuals and communities out of poverty. AmeriCorps VISTA members leverage human, financial and material resources to increase the capacity of thousands of low-income areas across the country to address challenges and improve their lives and communities.

Melissa Childs works in the center for community-based learning at Central College. As a student at Central, Childs worked with Cheri Doane, director of community-based learning, and participated in service-learning. Now, as a VISTA, Childs’s work ranges from to coordinating service-learning opportunities for Central students and community partners to managing the service-learning Web site. She also assists with the coordination of service-learning modules, which are similar to independent studies.

“I decided to become involved with the VISTA program because I knew I wanted to go into the nonprofit field and wanted to explore potential opportunities,” said Childs. “Through my experience, I have learned many skills that will help me professionally. By working with 75 service-learning sites, I become aware of the many opportunities in the not-for-profit world.”

Iowa Campus Compact provides VISTAs with ongoing professional development and technical assistance through their two VISTA Leaders who have already completed one year of service at an Iowa Campus Compact member campus. This year, the VISTA Leaders, Kelly Dooley and Janna Hammes, are based at Central College.

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