In conjunction with the National Day of Service and the Mayor’s Day of Recognition, Mayor Steven Fulop launched a new AmeriCorps VISTA project that will promote economic opportunity and youth development among low-income Jersey City residents.
The announcement came during an event honoring community service and volunteerism in the community on April 9.
Mayor Steven Fulop said the new City Hall AmeriCorps VISTA project will promote economic opportunity and youth development among low-income Jersey City residents and the project represents a federal investment of over $550,000 over the next three years.
“We know the role that volunteerism and community service play in improving cities, which is why we sought this opportunity to work with the Corporation for National and Community Service,” said Fulop. “With the AmeriCorps VISTA program we will expand our municipal capacity to develop innovative approaches to solving issues around poverty and economic opportunity without increasing the cost to taxpayers. We are continually seeking projects such as this, as well as private and public grants, so we can improve services, offer more programs, and provide greater opportunities and an improved quality of life for residents.”
Jersey City’s team of VISTA will perform interdepartmental support through various divisions of city government. Their projects will focus on anti-poverty initiatives through the Resident Response Center (RRC), the Mayor’s Quality of Life Task Force (MQLTF) and the Division of Community Development (DCD) and will also engage employers to better connect residents with job opportunities, as well as expanding employment and enrichment opportunities for youth.
Their assignments will align with the city’s commitment to the My Brothers’ Keeper and Cities of Service campaigns and brings together leadership and partnerships that promise to magnify and strengthen efforts around six White House-identified goals that aim to empower the community’s most vulnerable residents.
VISTA volunteers will help create, manage and sustain systems for collecting data through focus groups, surveys, interviews, legislative reviews, research, analysis, and other activities. Their work will largely involve outreach to key community stakeholders, including non-profit leaders, advocates, clergy, businesses, faith-based leaders, and other key components of anti-poverty programs in the community.
Additionally, volunteers will be actively communicating with local businesses, small and large, to encourage buy-in and investment in the local workforce by supporting training for current and future labor force needs and playing an active role in job placement. VISTA volunteers will be critical to establishing these connections with community partners from various sectors, helping to facilitate the connection between the needs of low-income residents, the prescriptions employed to address those needs, and the goals and objectives for individuals in poverty and the program as a whole.
Deputy Mayor Vivian Brady-Phillips said AmeriCorps engaged about 75,000 people nationwide in service every year, and they work to become partners with the community.
“It is really about extending services for poor income residents,” she said. “This program will be focused on young people, the poor and newly arriving residents through the city’s Resident Response Center, and well as working with the mayor’s Quality of Life Task Force.”
The team, which will include a manager and eight members, will work out of the Resident Response Center and work with various departments throughout the city to build up services and make connections within the community.
“This will involve an outreach to neighborhood community groups and others,” Brady-Phillips said. “This will be a very wonderful opportunity for individuals who want to get to understand public service and government.”
Over the next two or three weeks, the city will be interviewing people for possible membership of this group, she said.
“There will be information on the city’s website and outreach, community group, and local universities,” she said.
Fulop said the grant helps provide the opportunity for the city to work with young people and on many different social issues that impact people throughout the city.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.