Position Type: VISTA
Service Commitment: April 6, 2026 – April 5, 2027
Final Application Deadline: March 6, 2026
Car Required? Recommended
Driver’s License Required? Yes
Position Summary:
HEARTism Community Center, located in Hamilton, MT within the Bitterroot Valley, strives to provide education and socialization for children and young adults of all abilities through exploration of the arts, music, dance, nutrition, and life skills activities, while offering support and education to families and the community.
The goal of this project will be to improve school readiness for children with Autism by increasing their family’s access to social and educational supports. The VISTA will develop systems to increase awareness and developmental capacity of the organization, through social media, outreach plans, fundraising systems, grant opportunities research, and innovative organizational improvements and efficiencies. This VISTA project will move underserved children and youth on the Autism spectrum out of poverty by providing services and learning opportunities to better prepare them for academic and social success.
VISTA member at first will familiarize themself with existing systems, programming, and materials being utilized by HEARTism Community Center. After this evaluation period, VISTA member will work to develop new systems that increase awareness and developmental capacity of the organization through social media, evaluation of outreach plans, fundraising research, grant research and grant drafting. VISTA member will be evaluating areas that could benefit from organizational improvement, increased innovation and increased areas of efficiency, thus building long-term operational capacity. This will be seen through the creation of new resource materials, templates and paperwork. VISTA member will work to develop a new program for the Autism Level 1 Adult Support Group offered in the Bitterroot community, and will work to formalize the framework for a sign language class in cooperation with University of Montana.
Montana Campus Network for Civic Engagement (MCNCE) serves as the intermediary for this project. MCNCE is a CEO-led coalition of colleges and universities that support civic engagement, service learning, and volunteerism across the state. Every year we place cohorts of full-time, part-time, and summer AmeriCorps members with schools, colleges, nonprofits, and government agencies in Montana. The AmeriCorps projects we facilitate increase educational equity, break down barriers between higher education and community organizations, and address the root causes of poverty in communities across the state.
Professional Skills You Will Gain
- Communications
- Curriculum Development
- Intercultural Relations
- Leadership
- Marketing
- Nonprofit Administration
- Partnership Development
- Partnership Management
- Post-Secondary Education
- Program Assessment
- Program Development
- Public Speaking
- Rural Community Outreach
- Teamwork
- Time Management