BITTERROOT COLLEGE HOSTS COMMUNITY FORUM

Several staff members from MTCC's Network Office spent an inspiring day in Hamilton, Montana with an inspiring crew of folks like Tim Peterson from Bitterroot Collective Impact, Dan Griffin from the Valley Veterans Service Center, Allen Bjergo from the Bitter Root Resource Conservation and Development Area, and Roch Turner and Kate Johnson from Bitterroot College. Kate's serving her second term as an AmeriCorps VISTA and helped organize the conference, and Roch's an MTCC VISTA alum.

At the conference we heard from dedicated leaders like Susan Hay Patrick from the United Way of Missoula County, Deb Halliday from the Office of Public Instruction and Graduation Matters, and so many inspiring Bitterrooters, seeking to meaningful change in their communities. Our staff faciliated sessions on National Service and grant writing, and we came back with a huge charge to do good work! Thanks for inspiring us, Roch, Kate and the rest of the awesome Bitterrooters who attended and participated! This was as good and example of higher ed advancing its public purposes as we can imagine. Good work, Bitterroot College.

MTCC NATIONAL SERVICE ALUMS HONORED ON AMERICORPS 20TH ANNIVERSARY

Campus Corps AmeriCorps Alum Jill Washburn

Today is a special birthday around here, AmeriCorps turned twenty! It'd be old enough to vote, drive and register for selective service if it were a person. The AmeriCorps program had its roots in the War on Poverty programs of the the early 1960s, and when it was signed into law in 2014, it marked a huge expansion of National Service programs.

I often tell folks that AmeriCorps is kind of the younger, bigger cousin of VISTA, or "Volunteers In Service To America." VISTA is correctly referred to as a domestic version of the Peace Corps, placing folks in one-year terms building capacity to move people out of poverty. The other huge part of that back story is the Senior Corps programs, like the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions. Collectively, these programs get referred to as "National Service," and as VISTA currently resides administratively part of AmeriCorps, so too will the Senior Corps programs eventually.

At the more interesting local level, the affiliates of the Montana Campus Compact have been lucky to host both robust AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps VISTA programs in our twenty year history. In fact, much of the Compact's ability to "get things done for America*" (*that's AC's tag line) has been due to the strong support of the AmeriCorps programs, which has in turn leveraged millions of state and local dollars to address our most challenging problems.

Currently, MTCC AmeriCorps VISTAs focus on college access and success, STEM initiatives and projects that support veterans and military families.

MTCC VISTA Alum Roch Tuner

Montana's AmeriCorps Alums chapter used the occasion of this 20th anniversary to honor some exemplary alumni, among whom are MTCC's own: Jill Washburn (Campus Corps AmeriCorps), Wendy Jeschke (Campus Corps AmeriCorps), Jon Stephani (Campus Corps AmeriCorps), Charles "Roch" Turner (MTCC AmeriCorps VISTA), and Sandra Cain (Campus Corps AmeriCorps). Hear hear!