1. ILCC VISTA White Paper
My Year in Review
By: Ashley Brazil

2. Overview
• Context
• Themes
• Student Engagement
• Community Partners
• Resources and
Publications
• Goals
• Future Recommendations

3. Context
• AmeriCorps* VISTA
– Poverty Alleviation
– Capacity Building
• Illinois Campus Compact
– Poverty Alleviation
– Service Learning Capacity-building
• Adler School of Professional Psychology
– Community Engagement Department
• Community Service Practicum

4. Themes
• Let’s improve our program process
• Let’s diversify our community partners for
students with different interests/skills
• Let’s make the Community Service Practicum
a worthwhile cornerstone of an Adlerian
education

5. Student Engagement
• Seminar Visits
• CV workshops
• Community Partner Fair
• CSP student-to-student forums
• CSP Expectations Video
• Monthly Civic Reflections
• Field Trip Program Development
• CSP Student Forum
• Operation Support Our Troops Event

6. Community Partners
• Site Recruitment
• Site Visits
• Site Reviews
• Community Partner Support
• Military Organization research and
recruitment

7. Resources and Publications
• Professionalism Module
• CSP Student handbook
• CV workshop materials
• CSP Field Trip Proposal
• Fliers
• Civic Reflection
• Publicizing Relevant Events

8. Goals
• Goal #1
– The Soldier’s Project
– National Veterans Art Museum
– Operation Support Our Troops
• Goal #2
– Enlace Chicago
– Chicago Teacher’s Center
– Blocks Together

9. Goals
• Goal #3
– CSP Student Forums
– CSP Student Focus Group
• Goal #4
– New student group out of the former SIS program
– Praxis
– Our vision is to turn this into a connected student organization whose
focus is social justice and social responsibility

10. Future Recommendations
• At least one more full time staff person
• Better support for community partners that are
struggling to continue to run programs
• Continuing to build great relationships with
community organizations
• A virtual, online way for CSP students to discuss
their experience
• Increased awareness among
faculty, students, and community partners about
service-learning and community engagement

11. Reflections on My Year
“It has been a great journey and an amazing
experience as a VISTA this year. I have learned
so many things and met great people who
have and will continue to influence me.”
“I can see now that my decision to serve for a
year as a VISTA was the best decision I could
have made. I have greater understandings of
how programs, community organizations, and
the nonprofit sector work.”

12. Questions!

13. Thank you!