VISTA CIA Awarded for Building Capacity at Mini-Versity

LCCC’s  VISTA Community Impact Ambassador (CIA) project strengthens Russell and surrounding West Louisville neighborhoods through capacity building strategies that empower the achievement of “high impact” toward addressing critical issues that inhibit the economic mobility of low-income family members. Our VISTA CIA’s help build organizational capacity that supports the delivery  family services and community development in areas of: (a) Work Ready Skills Training and Employment Services for adults; (b) College and Career Readiness for school-aged youth; (c) Business Development and Job Creation; and (d) Quality Early Child Development Initiatives. VISTA CIA’s plan and engage tasks that are aimed at growing capacity to serve new audiences, improve outcomes that benefit clients served, leveraging new organizational resources, and increasing impact through information processing and dissemination. This article features the capacity building impact achieved by VISTA CIA, Shawn Summerville, on his assignment to support stabilization and growth of the Mini-Versity Child Development Center.

On October 3rd and 4th hundreds of General Electric employees showed up at 13 sites around Louisville to donate their talent and time. LCCC’s Mini-Versity Childhood Development Center which is located within the Beecher Terrace redevelopment project was lucky to be selected as one of those sites.

At Mini-Versity, we were grateful to welcome 95 GE employees to our site. Volunteers at Mini-Versity gave new life to the entire center. Inside volunteers painted walls, installed new carpet, replaced appliances including two refrigerators, two microwaves, and a deep freezer, and did some deep cleaning. Outside volunteers replaced mulch on the playground, de-weeded and trimmed bushes and trees, rearranged playground equipment, and refreshed the parking spots in the lot. Additionally, volunteers created a playground specifically for the younger children at MiniVersity as well as a natural playground for all to enjoy. GE also purchased new signage which will help MiniVersity be more visible to those who pass-by attracting new students.

We give a special thanks to GE for organizing this awesome day. A special thanks to the generous volunteers who donated time from their busy schedules to help support LCCC’s mission. We would also like to give a huge thanks to our AmeriCorps VISTAs for helping to coordinate this day of greatness!

Looking for ways to support our mission? If you are interested in group or individual volunteer opportunities with LCCC please visit our website and click the volunteer button located on the home page.