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Thanks to funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service, Mi Casa was recently approved for a three-year AmeriCorps VISTA project!

With no direct cost to Mi Casa, the VISTA program enabled Mi Casa to add two full-time positions dedicated to building our capacity to deliver and sustain high-quality programs.
 
Earlier this month, Sara Alcid (right) and Molly Brooks (left) joined Mi Casa's team as our first-ever VISTA members! Each will serve full-time for 12 months, working to build Mi Casa's capacity to fight poverty and advance economic success.
 
Though Sara and Molly are working as hard as any other Mi Casa employee, they only receive a small living stipend for their hard work. They truly are Volunteers In Service To America (VISTA), and we are grateful to have them!
 
Sara is Mi Casa's Fundraising & Communications Specialist, helping us raise vital operating funds to sustain programs and build our online communities. Molly is Mi Casa's Volunteer Outreach & Event Specialist, focusing on building Mi Casa's volunteer engagement systems and supporting event development.

AmeriCorps VISTA is the national service program designed to fight poverty. It was envisioned by President John F. Kennedy and authorized in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Since 1965, more than 185,000 VISTAs have served in communities across America, playing a key role in establishing many of the best-known anti-poverty programs, including Head Start, Upward Bound, and the credit union system.
 
Here's a bit more about Mi Casa's newest team members:
 
Sara Alcid grew up in Sun Valley, Idaho, and earned her degree in Political Science, magna cum laude, from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania in December 2011.  She founded and led Bryn Mawr's Amnesty International and Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance chapters.  Sara was identified by the U.S. Department of State's Women in Public Service Project--an initiative of Secretary Hilary Clinton--as an emerging female leader in public service.  Sara plans to pursue a graduate degree in public health after VISTA service.
 
Molly Brooks, a Denver native, graduated from Eastern University, summa cum laude, in May 2011, with a double major in Sociology and Spanish, a language she speaks fluently. With broad experience in direct service and in various roles as a counselor and advocate, Molly has provided resource navigation and case management to immigrant families and women. In college, Molly was the president of the campus group Refuge, a member of SAGE (Students Advocating Gender Equality), a Resident Assistant, and a Teaching Assistant in the Sociology Department. 

Internet Essentials. The program allows families with children enrolled in the free/reduced school lunch program to get Comcast home Internet services for just $9.95 (plus tax) per month. The price never increases and there are no activation or equipment fees. Families enrolled in Internet Essentials can buy a computer for just $149.99 (plus tax) and can access a variety of free Internet trainings.