Become a community sponsor for an OSM/VISTA

"We have had three OSM/VISTAs over the last 5 years. These positions provide us with a shot in the arm that we need to continue to work in impoverished communities. If my organization could secure the funding to sponsor more than one OSM/VISTA, we most certainly would."
— Robert Hughes, Executive Director, EPCAMR

OSM/VISTA Jenna Fehr raises awareness about watershed health and stormwater at the Piney Creek Watershed Association's festival in Beaver, WV

The Western Hardrock Watershed Team (WHWT) functions as an umbrella organization, providing watershed/community improvement groups in the Rocky Mountain West with OSM/VISTA Volunteers, Summer Interns and Summer Associates to promote economic development and environmental change at the grassroots level. Learn more about the WHWT and OSM/VISTAs here.

Local organizations that partner with the WHWT receive an OSM/VISTA Volunteer Project for a total of three years and enjoy the support that the Team provides: training, informational resources, access to a network of peer organizations and more.

The WHWT offers the following benefits to assist its qualifying local partners:

• A full-time year-long OSM/VISTA Volunteer that will help build the capacity of the host partner
• Full-time assistance from our Support Office based in Durango, CO
• Free attendance to our biannual Team Training for OSM/VISTAs and their supervisors--teaching skills in grant writing, board development, fiscal sustainability, economic revitalization and environmental restoration project development, and providing a forum to learn from others working on similar projects in the Rocky Mountain West
• Access to a computer donation program
• Access to Summer Program Members
• A regional network of ideas and experience through our email list and support staff
• Access to a computer
• Access to valuable research and resources, via a members-only portal on our website (forthcoming)
  
  

To sponsor an OSM/VISTA, an organization must:

• Be a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization (or have the fiscal sponsorship of a non-profit or other local agency — such as a Conservation District, County Commission, etc).
• Demonstrate the capacity for effective supervision and support for an OSM/VISTA member.
• Develop a project work plan that reflects the Hardrock Team's Core Goals.
• Sign a Memorandum of Agreement.
• Be able and willing to pay a yearly cost-share match to support the volunteer position.
• Be able and willing to pay the fringe cost of hosting an OSM/VISTA Volunteer (travel, office, mailing, printing, etc).

OSM/VISTA Supervisors during at a seminar at the Fall 2009 WHWT training

We encourage you to contact the WHWT to discuss whether or not this opportunity is right for your community. Please contact:

Rachel Folk, Team Director


Note: Watersheds that are just starting their development may wish to first consider applying for an OSM/VISTA Summer Associate or Intern, a position that provides 10 weeks of full-time work by a college junior, senior or graduate.