ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell University Public Service Center currently is recruiting AmeriCorps*VISTA members to serve in the Ithaca community.

AmeriCorps is a federally funded network of national service programs that engage 50,000 Americans each year. VISTA stands for Volunteers in Service to America and is often referred to as the "domestic Peace Corps." Since the early 1960s, the VISTA program has embedded volunteers for one-year terms within low-income communities to help address critical issues related to poverty. In 1993, VISTA formally joined the AmeriCorps network, and today nearly 6,000 AmeriCorps*VISTA members serve in hundreds of nonprofit organizations and public agencies throughout the United States -- working to fight illiteracy, improve health services, create businesses, increase housing opportunities or help bridge the digital divide.

In exchange for a full year of service to the community, AmeriCorps*VISTA members receive a modest living allowance, health benefits, a child care subsidy, deferment of student loans, an end-of-year stipend and extensive training in community development and leadership. AmeriCorps*VISTA members must be at least 18 years of age and have a high school diploma or GED. College experience is preferred but not mandatory. A total of 13 people are being recruited, both locally and nationally, through the Cornell Public Service Center. Members will assist local nonprofit organizations, such as the Village at Ithaca Initiative, the City of Ithaca Neighborhood Planning Initiative, the Ithaca Housing Authority, the Tompkins County Family Treatment Court, Cornell Legal Aid's MacCormick Project and the Cornell Public Service Center. The United Way of Tompkins County also is recruiting AmeriCorps*VISTA members to serve many of its member organizations.

Individuals who choose to serve do so for a variety of reasons, such as to jump-start their careers, an opportunity to utilize their years of experience and, most notably, as an opportunity to become engaged in community development while affecting social change. While it may not be easy to devote a year of one's life to community service in today's society, past AmeriCorps*VISTA members have observed,the experience offered them the opportunity of a lifetime.

The Cornell Public Service Center (PSC) is committed to helping AmeriCorps*VISTA members obtain that opportunity of a lifetime. For many, the largest obstacle to serving as an AmeriCorps*VISTA member is housing. At least half of the recruits may come from parts of the country other than where they are placed and need inexpensive places to stay during their year of service. Thus the PSC is seeking alternative housing options for these dedicated volunteers.

For more information on becoming an AmeriCorps*VISTA member, or for information on offering housing options to members serving in Ithaca, contact Athena Kalandros, VISTA project director for the Cornell Public Service Center, at (607) 255-9382. For more on national service visit the AmeriCorps Web site at http://www.americorps.org . For information on the Cornell Public Service Center, see http://www.psc.cornell.edu .