CCED has partnered with UCA Service-Learning to create six AmeriCorps VISTA positions to serve in communities across Arkansas. Two of those AmeriCorps VISTA members are Community Development VISTAs working with Arkansas communities that have worked with CCED in the past to develop citizen led strategic action plans.
The AmeriCorps VISTA program was started in 1965 and provides a living stipend and professional development opportunities for volunteers who dedicate a year of service to the goal of addressing the root causes of poverty in communities across the United States. AmeriCorps VISTA members serve as a catalyst for change, living and working alongside community members to meet our nation’s most pressing challenges and advance local solutions.
Lonoke 2022 is a five-year citizen led strategic plan that was published in 2017 that came out of the Kickstart Lonoke project. This was a citizen led initiative that defined six priority areas for the city and created action teams to tackle each of these priorities.
Hot Spring County Conversations was a project from CCED and UAEX that created a ten-year citizen led strategic plan published in 2019. This plan identified five priorities for the county and established action committees in the five largest communities in Hot Spring County to carry out the plan.
Lonoke and Hot Spring County’s VISTA members will be working to advance these strategic action plans by organizing community action teams, marketing their efforts, and seeking grant opportunities to fulfil the goals of the strategic plan.
We’re looking forward to seeing these communities continue to work towards their goals with these AmeriCorps VISTA members to create a high quality of life for all who live there. To learn more, you can find the strategic action plans for Lonoke and Hot Spring County Conversations 10-year strategic action plan here and the Lonoke 2022 strategic action plan here.