Cynthia Pierce

Staff Photo by Lesley Onstott Cynthia Pierce spackles around the window while John Wilson prepares the ceiling in order to install a projection screen in a renovated room of the Family Support Council on Friday. Pierce is a project manager for Americorps Vista stationed at the Family Support Council and in charge of renovating a room of offices into a room for both board meetings and volunteer training.

At a time when Northwest Georgia nonprofits are receiving fewer donations and dealing with staff reductions, AmeriCorps VISTA is trying to lighten the load.

VISTA -- Volunteers in Service to America -- is coming into Northwest Georgia to work in volunteer management, project coordination, nonprofit marketing and use of social networking media, United Way officials said Friday.

"When our partner agencies are having to decrease their staff, these AmeriCorps members are helping them to work more efficiently through these tough economic times," said Andrea Dobbins, manager of the volunteer center at United Way of Northwest Georgia in Dalton, Ga.

The United Way brings in the VISTA workers, then farms them out to other nonprofits in Northwest Georgia. Six VISTA workers already are working at nonprofit agencies in Northwest Georgia, and five more expect to start work in July, Ms. Dobbins said. Positions still are available for five more VISTA workers, she said.

Those who qualify must be at least 18 years old and should have at least two years' college experience or a mature work history, Ms. Dobbins said. Those who participate in the program for a year receive health care coverage, $4,752 toward a college education or $1,200 cash and a modest living allowance, she said.

John Devore, who graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2006 with an English degree, said he started working with AmeriCorps because he wanted to help people and also wanted a change from his previous job in retail. In 2008, he worked with mentally ill residents at the AIM Center in Chattanooga and this year he's helping to create brochures and write grants applications to assist children at the Whitfield County Dalton Daycare Center.

"This has been a great experience," Mr. Devore said.

Holly Rice, executive director of the Family Support Council in Dalton, Ga., said her company's VISTA worker "fills in the gaps."

"There are so many things you just don't do when you're just trying to make it through the day," she said.

In one week, the council's VISTA worker, Cynthia Pierce, brought the agency about 70 volunteers by visiting colleges and job fairs, Ms. Rice said. Ms. Pierce also has worked on a marketing plan, developed a new logo for the agency, helped with fundraising efforts and written a grant application, Ms. Rice said.

Working in the VISTA program has given her opportunity to make a career change, expand her resume and become more familiar with her community, Ms. Pierce said.

"This is the least-paying job I've ever had; this is also the most satisfying job I've ever had," said Ms. Pierce, a former graphic arts designer in New York.

VISTA

For more information or to apply to the Northwest Georgia AmeriCorps VISTA project, contact Kyle Coffey at 706-876-1592 or 706-226-4357 or 706-CAN-HELP.