Support

Support–There’s no over-emphasizing its importance. Without it, no project can fully take flight.

In theory, AmeriCorps Vistas should already have support for their directive. Their role is to expand upon or build up an organization’s resources, to leave sustainable programs in place.

On the other hand, Peace Corps volunteers don’t always have guaranteed support. Although PCVs are assigned to one hosting organization that must apply for a volunteer in the first place, PCVs have a lot of time on their hands and really end up as volunteers for the entire community rather than just the community-based organization. Because of this, they assess the need for and initiate many projects. Often times, though, community members will be excited about a project or initiative and, when it comes to shovel time, they won’t show up en masse. This can be incredibly frustrating for PCVs, who must do a lot of political gymnastics to really organize a supportive community. Preemptive actions for PCVs to take are to consult host country nationals to emphasize their part in the decision-making process and to identify respected community members and leaders who are willing to take the lead. This less-travelled road is a long and challenging one, which is why Peace Corps service lasts for two years. Your first year is spent building credibility and making connections. However, once you can cultivate enough support to translate positive murmurings into action, it will be incredibly rewarding.

Although you’re more likely to meet lack of support in Peace Corps initiatives, its absence is overwhelming for Vistas when it comes to capacity building. In the CTC Vista Project, I’ve found that having support before you arrive at the organization can mean everything. Technically, the purpose of your role at an organization–be it development work to social media strategy to database implementation–should already be supported or else the org would never have applied for a CTC Vista in the first place. However, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes, hosting a CTC Vista can be like paying lip service–the org recognizes the preeminence of a certain movement and its impending integration but has little time and resources to actually do anything about it except to commit a CTC Vista.

Problem solved, one would think. But not so because despite that the org now has a full-time employee to tackle the issue, it still requires education and buy-in from the rest of the organization to become a sustainable and living initiative. Many times, due to the organization’s structure, age differences and other factors, employees will have limits to how far they’re willing to go, a lack of proper understanding and little time to rectify both. Organizational culture is often the biggest hurdle to overcome. This will become incapacitating, and the only step I can think of thus far in such a situation is to ask the stakeholders who submitted the Vista application to sit down and come to a firm conclusion as to what they truly expect out of their CTC Vista and whether the org is ready to support the CTC Vista when those expectations need additional input to become a reality.