Communications & Volunteer VISTA

Communications & Volunteer Recruitment VISTA

We Strive for Literacy (WSFL) is building the Vista Literacy Collaborative so schools, families, community organizations, volunteers, and funders can work together to connect more low-income children with timely literacy support. Nearly two-thirds of Vista Unified students are not reading at grade level, leaving many children significantly behind in the foundational literacy skills they need for school success. Families must also navigate disconnected services, making it harder to find timely, effective support.

Over three years, the Collaborative expects to benefit approximately 300 low-income children and families by strengthening partnerships, referral pathways, volunteer systems, community awareness, and sustainable resource development. This is a capacity-building service opportunity:
Ameri Corps VISTA members create systems, tools, relationships, and documented practices that remain after their service year rather than provide ongoing direct tutoring. Members serve from WSFL’s Vista office as part of a three-person VISTA team and receive structured supervision, project coaching, and professional-development support.

• Build communications and volunteer recruitment systems that increase awareness of local literacy opportunities and mobilize community support. Assess existing communications, audiences, channels, volunteer needs, and recruitment processes; develop a messaging guide that clearly relates the VLC to WSFL; create a community-awareness plan, content calendar, reusable templates, and campaign workflow; define volunteer roles; develop outreach, intake, screening, onboarding, communication, tracking, retention, and recognition systems;
  
  and pilot recruitment and awareness campaigns. Analyze results, improve the systems and contribute final tools to the Replication Toolkit. Year 1 targets include using the newly developed recruitment system to recruit at least 12 prospective volunteers, pilot screening and onboarding tools with staff, evaluate the effectiveness of the recruitment and retention systems, and provide documented procedures that staff can use to sustain an active volunteer pipeline.

• Education award upon successful completion of service
• Transportation Reimbursement
• Training
• Living Allowance
• Choice of Education Award or End of Service Stipend
• Relocation Allowance
• Health Coverage*
• Childcare assistance if eligible

• Education
• Community Outreach
• Children/Youth

• General Skills
• Recruitment
• Computers/Technology
• Community Organization
• Communications
• Writing/Editing
• Content creation and planning

Communications & Volunteer Recruitment VISTA