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Volunteers in service to America: Warriors for the poor and victims of COVID-19
Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal,
14
(1),
9-12
(2020)
Abstract
The concept of voluntarism is ancient. But in the 1960s, poverty in the US and abroad was becoming more of a government concern. The US government established the Peace Corps, and then, in 1964, the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) programme. While Peace Corps volunteers served exclusively outside the US, VISTAs were assigned to domestic anti-poverty programmes. Both programmes live on today, VISTA under the broader federal AmeriCorps programme. VISTAs are now engaged in a different war — a struggle to save communities from the devastation of the COVID-19 virus. This paper suggests how an expanded VISTA programme could save both lives and jobs.
Keywords: volunteers; COVID-19 virus; federal programmes; VISTA
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
David M. Feehan is the former president of the International Downtown Association. He served as president of the Des Moines Downtown Community Partnership for five years during the time the MLK project was redesigned. He is currently president of Civitas Consultants LLC, and has worked with town centre projects globally. He is the co-author of Making Business Districts Work and Design Downtown for Women – Men Will Follow. He is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences.
