VISTA program works to improve the High Point community
By Molly Torres
High Point University has been working more and more towards bridging the gap between the university and the surrounding community, specifically this year with its growing vista program.
Madison Nelin is an HPU alumni now living in the area as a vista leader. She works in High Point Central, where she has been developing a college access program to guide students through the college application process and advise them on future career paths.
“These students have so much potential,” she tells me. “You can see it when they talk when they speak about their favorite subject, or how they want to be a nurse or a teacher.”
“The struggle for them” she continues, “is finding guidance, and that’s why a college access program is so important.”
Right outside the gates of HPU, Madison Nelin occupies a house with two other vista workers.
They make up a third of the High Point University Americorps Vista Civic Leaders, a program that has developed in High Point over the past few years.
Joseph Blosser, Director of Service-learning and assistant professor of religion and philosophy, and Mary Beth Foust, Bonner Leader Coordinator, serve as recruiters and supervisors for this program that partners HPU graduates with nonprofit organizations in the community.
The vista program in High Point was established in response to a 2014 study naming the Greensboro-High Point Metropolitan Statistical Area as second in the country for food hardship. Each vista is an HPU alum acting as the mediator between the university and issues in the community. This summer, the program has tripled from just three vistas to nine.
This progress has allowed the program to expand to education-related programs. Currently, there are four vistas focused on food-related issues and four focused on education, with a second-year vista, Jenna Rossenblum, providing supervision and support.
They partner with local organizations, including the Greater High Point Food Alliance, West End Ministries, Hayden Harman Foundation, and local community gardens and farmers markets.
As Foust points out, these topics of food access and education are far from being exclusive. “The more we’ve expanded the more we’ve realized how much overlap there is with these kinds of issues, so we are glad to be able to provide a more holistic approach.”
Another vista, Caitlin Maressa, describes the importance of thinking about the community holistically and learning about it outside of the typical HPU student’s experience.
“It’s been so great to step out into the community,” Maressa says. “As a student, you really don’t explore the community, because everything you need within HPU’s gates. It’s been eye-opening to finally connect with the community I’ve been living in for four years without really knowing much about.”
Through the program, Vistas like Nelin and Maressa are provided with a living allowance, a university-sponsored house, an insurance reimbursement to cover healthcare, and an HPU meal plan.
Upon program completion, they can choose between the education award and a stipend. The education award can go towards further schooling and can be used up to five years after service.
Beyond these financial benefits, their supervisor Rossenblum describes to me the invaluable experience that comes with participation in the program.
“Being able to help a community right out of college was the greatest opportunity I could have wished for. Over time, people in the community were helping me learn, telling me stories, and making me feel like part of a family,” she says.
“It’s eye-opening to feel a part of a community that you weren’t raised in, yet are accepted and welcomed into and made to feel like you’re really making an impact.”
Carl Vierling, Executive Director of GHPFA, also emphasizes this mutually beneficial relationship between vistas and the community.
During a phone interview, he expresses the importance of this program is a “two-way street.”
“During the time they are working with us,” he says, “we treat it as a mentorship. We appreciate their help, and we hope to send them away with firsthand experience and leadership within a community and organization.”
The vistas for this year began training in June and have now been active in their community roles for a little over a month.
Nelin reflects on this, saying “already in the past month, I have grown tremendously as a person. My views on the world are changing every day and my appreciation for this community has grown tremendously.”