One issue VISTA supervisors face is helping people understand how capacity building differs from direct service. Knowing how "hands on" the job is could affect an applicant's decision to serve. It also may impact whether a new member successfully carries out the VISTA mission over the long term.

Kristi Piatkowski of CONNECT(Orange, CA) has both VISTAs and AmeriCorps members in her First 5 programs. She tries to determine if an applicant will be a better fit for one program or the other.

Click the play button to hear her remarks.

Rebecca Tedford of the Louisiana AmeriCorps*VISTA Program (Baton Rouge, LA) often uses a playground example to explain how direct service and capacity building differ.

Click the play button to hear her description.

This description also comes in handy when recruiting partner sites. For more on that topic, go to the Working with Host Sites section of Supervision.

Go back to Recruiting for Retention