ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell Public Service Center and the United Way of Tompkins County are recruiting locally for new AmeriCorps*VISTA members to serve in the Tompkins, Tioga and Schuyler county communities.

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.

In exchange for one year of service to the community, AmeriCorps*VISTA members receive a modest living allowance (approximately $9,200), health benefits, a child-care subsidy, deferment of student loans and an educational award of $4,725 or an end-of-year stipend of $1,200, as well as extensive training in community development and leadership. AmeriCorps*VISTA members must be at least 18 years old and have a high school diploma or GED, with some college experience preferred but not mandatory.

New members are being recruited to work with area nonprofit groups and organizations served by the United Way of Tompkins County and the Cornell Public Service Center, such as: the Advocacy Center, Catholic Charities of Tompkins County, the Day Care and Child Development Council, Family and Children's Service, Finger Lakes Independence Center, the Human Services Coalition, Literacy Volunteers of Tompkins County, the Mental Health Association of Tompkins County, Offender Aid and Restoration, the Village at Ithaca Initiative, the City of Ithaca Neighborhood Planning Initiative, Ithaca Housing Authority, Tompkins County Family Treatment Court, MacCormick Secure Facility and the Southside Community Center. Individuals who choose to serve do so for a variety of reasons, such as to jump-start their careers, as an opportunity to utilize their years of experience and, most notably, to become engaged in community development while effecting 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 that the experience offered them the opportunity of a lifetime.

Current VISTA member Alisha Coleman, who is serving at area Catholic Charities, has this to say about her service experience: "The most important thing that I've learned is about community trust. We've worked really hard this year to set up a trusting environment for the rural communities. We wanted them to set the community agenda and identify community solutions. I think this is the legacy that I leave at my project."

For more information, call Amy Bonn, United Way of Tompkins County, at (607) 272-6286, or Aileen Boyd, VISTA project leader, Cornell Public Service Center, at (607) 255-8131. Applications and information also can be found at http://www.americorps.org .