Position Type: VISTA
Service Commitment: August 10, 2026 – August 9, 2027
Final Application Deadline: July 12, 2026
Car required? Recommended
Driver’s License Required? Yes
Position Summary:
North Valley Food Bank (NVFB) services NW Montana with food assistance to more than 1200 people weekly through a free client-choice model grocery store in Whitefish and mobile pantries. NVFB mission is building food security and strengthening communities; envisioning a world with well-nourished, connected communities. In addition to the customers served directly, North Valley Food Bank serves as a food hub for NW Montana and runs pantry deliveries to FAST Blackfeet in Browning, the Bigfork Food Bank and rural pantries in the Yaak, Eureka, Libby, and Troy. The goal of this project is to reduce food insecurity and its root causes in Northwest Montana by supporting a community-led needs assessment, build sustainable systems for community-led data and embedding lived experience into program design, service delivery, and resource development to create more equitable access to nutritious food for low-income and rural households. By providing reliable access to nutritious food, the North Valley Food Bank creates immediate impact and improves stability, long-term health and educational outcomes that are vital for breaking the cycle of poverty. Furthermore, by embedding lived experience into program design, this project will work to dismantle structural barriers and address root causes that foster a more equitable, self-sufficient future for rural Montana.
VISTA will create a community-led needs assessment to address institutional and place-based barriers to healthy food access in Flathead and Lincoln county, Montana. This will include the establishment of tools and processes for data collection, storage and analysis in collaboration with internal staff & local partners. VISTA will develop and coordinate volunteer support for surveys, focus groups and community mapping activities. VISTA will design research strategies to identify individuals experiencing food insecurity, including those not currently accessing services. VISTA will create a stakeholders group, ‘Council of Experts with Lived Experience’ as a permanent structure for community leadership and decision-making. VISTA will support recruitment, onboarding and coordination of council members to address food insecurity. VISTA will develop and design participation supports that reduce barriers to engagement. VISTA will build processes to sustain the Council as an ongoing advisory and leadership body beyond the VISTA year. VISTA will analyze data and make recommendations for actionable program and systems changes that reduce barriers to food access; including development of new tools for data tracking, intake processes and a replicable toolkit that can be utilized by other MT communities.
Montana Campus Network for Civic Engagement (MCNCE) serves as the intermediary for this project. MCNCE is a coalition of colleges and universities dedicated to fostering civic engagement, service learning, and volunteerism across Montana. Led by CEOs from participating institutions, MCNCE works to improve community life and educate students on civic and social responsibility, preparing them to be thoughtful, compassionate, and engaged leaders.
Benefits Include:
- $24,962 VISTA Living Allowance (full year) = $957.46 bi-weekly
- $7,395 Education Award or $1800 cash award
- Relocation Allowance
- Health Insurance
- Personal & Medical Leave
- Non-Competitive Federal Hiring for one year & Eligible for Federal Loan Deferment
- University of Montana access & resources
- Access to regular professional trainings through MCNCE & University of Montana
Professional Skills You Will Gain
- Local Food Systems
- Communications
- Indigenous Community Outreach
- Intercultural Relations
- Leadership
- Marketing
- Partnership Development
- Partnership Management
- Program Assessment
- Program Development
- Public Speaking
- Teamwork
- Time Management