VIS iA Seeks Volunteers to Fight Compassionate War
“An organization that fights poverty with deeds, not
dole, needs tough and compassionate people," accord¬
ing to Glenn Ferguson, director of Volunteers in Service
to America.
"When our VISTA Volunteers land in a city slum or
an Appalachian hollow, they immediately discover prob¬
lems that weren't covered in the sociology textbooks.
They’re grim problems, for poverty is a grim business,
and the Volunteers have to be strong enough to act, to
endure, and smart enough to understand.”
In describing the organization he heads, Ferguson
said: "VISTA doesn't offer its Volunteers much money.
It doesn't offer the glamor of foreign travel. I believe it’s
probably the most spartan and most dedicated arm of
the entire war on poverty. It offers the singular chance
for a person to find out if he has enough courage to
spend a year of his life in the often thankless task of
helping others.”
VISTA, he said, "is not a job for the squeamish or
the theoreticians. It isn't easy to find volunteers. We've
got to count on a special kind of people. People who
care. People who mean what they say.
"The squeamish can't take the squalor and the heart¬
break and the theoreticians find their pet theories shot
down five minutes after they confront a 17-year old
dropout who thinks that a 47-cent bottle of wine and a
50-cent reefer arc the only way to start the day.”
A Volunteer's principal equipment. Ferguson said, "is
determination, compassion and perseverence. It takes
all three.”
He said that VISTA "is calling the bluffs of people
who claim to be concerned. Their year in VISTA will
take them deep into the lives of others. I can think of
nothing more fascinating than that.”
The college-trained, he said, "have the background
and the knowledge to make excellent Volunteers. If they
have the necessary emotional and mental stamina, they
move high up on our list of prospects.
"So far. college campuses have proved to be a most
productive source of good Volunteers.” he said.
— 71 -
the vista VOICE
A publication of Volunteers In Service To America
VISTA s College-Trained
Acceptance Rate Hits 75%
261 Assigned to the Hollows
WILEASE FIELDS, 22, was so well received by the Pima-Maricopa
Indians whom she trained among that the Tribal Council asked
her to stay with them for the rest of her year of service. She is
a graduate of Maryland State College.
VISTA Aids Indians
In War Against Want
The 1960’s could have gone
down as the decade in which the
American Indian fought his last
battle against his oldest foe —
poverty — and won.
But the odds still weigh too
heavily against the reservation-
bound Indian. He suffers from
disease, malnutrition, polluted
water, high infant mortality, and
a life expectancy of 42 years.
The average Indian per family
income is $1,500 a year— less
than a quarter of the national av¬
erage. Unemployment is around
40 percent — eight times the na¬
tional average.
Nine out of 10 of the nation's
385,000 reservation Indians live
(Continued on Page 3 )
Poverty-Stricken Appalachia Provides
Daily Challenge to VISTA Volunteers
Although Congress has ear¬
marked more than a billion dol¬
lars to help cure the economic ills
of Appalachia, the first tangible
sign of the new prosperity seen
by the citizens of Davidson, Ten¬
nessee, is a 250-book library built
and maintained by VISTA Vol¬
unteers.
The library in Davidson, a new
day school in Kentucky, and a
tutoring program in North Caro¬
lina are some of the first results
of the massive attack on poverty
in the Appalachian region that
stretches from New York to
Alabama.
These programs are the work
of more than 261 VISTA Vol¬
unteers who have been assigned
the task of breaking through the
apathy, hopelessness and resigna¬
tion that grip the Appalachian
communities where the coal has
played out, the young people
have left, and tomorrow offers
less hope than yesterday.
In Davidson, home of the 250-
book library, five VISTA Volun¬
teers attack poverty in this region
where two surveys have esti¬
mated the per capita income to
be approximately $200 a year.
The Volunteers work for the
LBJ and C Development Corpo-
(Continued on Page 3)
EXPLAINING MEDICARE to older residents of rural Knox county,
Kentucky, has become one of Volunteer Marilyn Berman's varied
tasks. The 21 -year-old graduate of Cornell University is working
on community development in the Appalachian heartland.
son to the "initiative, commit¬
ment, and adaptability of college
students." These characteristics,
considered highly important for
the Volunteers, arc "continually
demonstrated by young college
volunteers during training.” he
said.
"In fact," Ferguson said,
"more than three-fourths of all
VISTA Volunteers now serving
in the nation's poverty areas are
between 20 and 24. Of these, ap¬
proximately half have completed
from one to three years of col¬
lege and another 16 percent are
recent graduates.”
Sargent Shriver. the War on
Poverty director, said recently
that the college trained "are
bringing their gifts of education
and encouragement to the tene¬
ment alleys and back country
roads. They have received one of
the truly great benefits of our so¬
ciety — an excellent education. In
VISTA they will be able to share
this benefit with others and con¬
firm the humane values which
our colleges and universities rep¬
resent."
(Continued on Page 3)
Seventy-five percent of all col¬
lege trained persons who apply to
spend a year of their lives in serv¬
ice to America as VISTA Volun¬
teers are accepted. Glenn Fergu¬
son, director of VISTA, has an¬
nounced.
The high rate of acceptance of
college students and graduates by
VISTA is attributed by Fergu-
VISTA Tops Peace Corps
Growth, Shriver States
After 1 1 months of operation.
VISTA has done "better than the
Peace Corps at a comparable
stage of development,” Sargent
Shriver. the man who until re¬
cently ran the Peace Corps, told
a Washington press conference.
At the 1 1-month mark, VISTA
had 1,477 Volunteers in the field
or in training in 39 states and
Washington, D.C. That figure has
now increased to more than
2.000 Volunteers.
During a comparable period,
Shriver said, the Peace Corps had
820 Volunteers, either on over¬
seas assignment or in training.
According to Shriver, VISTA
plans to have 3,500 Volunteers in
the field by June of this year.
"The Volunteers are the heart
of the war on poverty,” he said.
"In community after community
they have shown that deprived
and isolated people are willing
and able to make a new, con¬
structive effort with encourage¬
ment and skilled assistance.”
He pointed out that VISTA is
seeking Volunteers from the ranks
of the poor as well as from col¬
lege campuses. “People who have
grown up in poverty,” he said,
"have a special understanding to
contribute.”
Shriver said, "The War on
Poverty takes money. But money
alone cannot win the war. Dedi¬
cated, skilled people are needed
to bridge the gulf between the
poor and the rest of America
and to start the process of re¬
generation in America.”
Shriver also pointed out that
the demand for VISTA Volun¬
teers is outstripping the supply.
He said that a total of 7,831
Volunteers have been requested
to serve in 577 projects in the
District of Columbia and every
state but Hawaii and Iowa.
