Community Development and Outreach Coordinator
Organization:
Sanctuary for Independent Media/New York Media Alliance VISTA Name:
Nicole Belanger
Program Start:
9/2009
Program End:
9/2010
Project Description:
The VISTA member’s specific responsibilities will be to expand our outreach efforts and develop sustainable relationships and advocates for media reform, media justice, and independent community media, so that we can better fulfill our mission.
Our Community Development and Outreach Coordinator would significantly enhance our capacity to fulfill our mission of advancing media reform and media justice in the NY Capital Region and the economically disadvantaged communities directly surrounding our office at The Sanctuary for Independent Media. The VISTA member will have significant involvement in the community, collaborating with staff to develop and implement a volunteer program to support Media Alliance initiatives and strengthen our capacity to identify, attract, train and monitor dedicated volunteers who can help support our locally produced community media production and distribution, and expand our outreach efforts.
Goal 1: Expand our outreach efforts, coordinate volunteers, and develop sustainable relationships to further our mission.
Project Outcome:
Our VISTA member Nicole Belanger definitely had significant involvement in the community, collaborating with staff to develop and implement a volunteer program to support Media Alliance initiatives and strengthen our capacity to identify, attract, train and monitor dedicated volunteers who can help support our locally produced community media production and distribution. She expanded our outreach efforts, achieving our goals.
Nicole Belanger outreached to other organizations and institutions, increased awareness of our community media projects, and assisted with coordination of our community programs—with the result of a greater community network with substantive relationships to our organization. As part of her VISTA work, Nicole compiled a community volunteer and outreach binder, with tasks and activities broken down into clear and efficient descriptions. The goal was to sustain her accomplishments. Although we could always use more support, this work does go a significant way to ensuring the longevity of the accomplishments achieved through our VISTA member Nicole Belanger’s accomplishments.
One interesting accomplishment beyond our proposed project is that Nicole organized a pot-luck and cooking crew. The wholesome meals and hospitality helped to build community—here, with a focus on “home sweet home” values! This is another accomplishment which will have longevity, and has helped in our community outreach. Our VISTA member also helped to frame our community arts and education projects as a valuable component of our community outreach, and we appreciate it!