Texas Conference of Churches

Building Sustainable Disaster Recovery Organizations
Our AmeriCorps*VISTA Members work in disaster-affected communities across Texas to increase the sustainability of long term recovery efforts. During their one-year terms, VISTA Members do everything from coordinating volunteers and developing resources to convening recovery-focused committees and promoting disaster preparedness and education. In other words, if it’s capacity building, they do it!

Currently, there are two federal disaster declarations covering 47 counties in Texas along with many survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita residing in Texas, many of whom are still requiring assistance from local recovery organizations. With disasters having unhinged so many lives in our state, there is much work to do, and as one might suspect, there are few resources to go around. For this reason, the contributions of VISTA Members to disaster recovery processes are invaluable. VISTAs perform the critical task of leveraging available resources, thereby enabling recovery organizations to better address the unmet needs of local families.

What is AmeriCorps*VISTA?

In 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson created Volunteers in Service to America, or VISTA, as part of the War on Poverty. Today VISTA is one of three national service programs under the AmeriCorps umbrella. What sets VISTA apart from other AmeriCorps service opportunities is its approach to addressing poverty. VISTAs do behind-the-scenes work to create and expand programs that ultimately bring low-income individuals and communities out of poverty. Since its inception, more than 140,000 Americans have served through VISTA. For more information about AmeriCorps*VISTA, click here.

Wondering if a year of service is the right next step for you? Visit our "Why Serve?" page to find out more about the benefits of serving with our project.