AmeriCorps VISTA

Each year, AmeriCorps VISTA offers over 8,000 opportunities for adults of all ages and backgrounds to address the root causes of poverty through a year of service. For over 50 years, VISTA members have been performing indirect service by developing new programs, raising funds, recruiting volunteers, managing projects, building capacity, and assisting families in breaking the cycle of poverty.

For recent graduates, VISTA provides real-world experience unmatched by any entry-level job. For those with a more extensive work record, VISTA allows members to apply their veteran skills and knowledge to serious social problems. In return for a year of service, each VISTA member receives a modest living allowance, health benefits, training opportunities, student loan forbearance or deferment, and ongoing professional development. Upon completing their terms, VISTAs obtain a Segal Education Award along with a year of non-competitive eligibility for a federal government position. The greatest benefit of all, however, is the chance to positively impact one’s community and country. 

PCRG and AmeriCorps VISTA

The rapidly changing landscape of Pittsburgh-area neighborhoods and municipalities poses unique challenges and opportunities for grassroots organizations. In some areas, rapid growth threatens to displace low to moderate-income residents, while other neighborhoods suffer from long-standing decay and under-investment. PCRG VISTAs placed with PCRG and its community-focused partners aim to build the programming, resources, and organizational capacity necessary to capitalize on these changes. Not surprisingly, their assignments reflect the remarkable diversity of Greater Pittsburgh, concerning issues as varied as urban blight, affordable housing, and entrepreneur development. 

PCRG is one of the thousands of active AmeriCorps VISTA sponsors nationwide. We place VISTAs at partner nonprofits across the Pittsburgh region and directly with PCRG. Besides those assigned to PCRG, our members have serviced The Buhl Foundation, Manchester Citizens Corporation, Perry Hilltop/Fineview Citizens Council, Hazelwood Initiative, New Sun Rising, and Allegheny County Economic Development (ACED). 

Meet our VISTAs

Zoia Parvez 
VISTA Leader 

Zoia served as a VISTA member in 2019 at the United Way of Southwestern PA in Pittsburgh. Born and raised in Pakistan, Zoia has an extensive academic and professional background in business operations and humanitarian work. With a postgraduate degree in Humanitarianism and Conflict Response from the University of Manchester, Zoia has worked in Pakistan and the United Kingdom (aid-assessment projects for South Asia), Thailand (Early Warning Systems and disaster mitigation projects), the Philippines (Humanitarian response alongside local NGOs after typhoon Yolanda), and Nepal (evaluating and reviewing the emergency and recover response to the Gorkha earthquake). Zoia is passionate about advocacy of effective platforms for the differently-abled, atrocities against minority groups in the global south, and the lack of human rights efforts around the world. Very sociable, Zoia loves a good coffee shop and hopes to secure work opportunities within the non-profit sector after her service year. 

Bailey Knapp  
VISTA Member 

VISTA member Bailey Knapp is serving at the Mt. Washington Community Development Corporation. He is from Tallahassee, Florida, and attended the University of North Florida. He has a deep appreciation for cooking as it has been something he can focus on as well as see consistent improvement over time. He enjoys learning traditional techniques, farmers' markets, and the small details of plating. But most of all, he enjoys the act of sharing food with others and the sense of community it brings. Bailey’s next goal after his service year is to join the Peace Corps somewhere in Asia, after which he would like to enroll in a graduate program with a focus in International Development or a related field. 

Carla Arnold
VISTA Member

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, Carla has an Associate’s degree in Social Science from CCAC. This is her third year as a VISTA at Perry Hilltop/Fineview Citizens Council responsible for community engagement. Preceding her AmeriCorps service, Carla worked at the Central Blood Bank for 25 years (in Special Products Apheresis). Carla loves to read in her spare time and wishes to continue volunteering with the community council and working part-time at Heinz Field. From helping clean up the vacant lot next to a house on Burgess Street to spreading the PULSE mission to community members, Carla Arnold has become someone others around her look up to as to how we can be good neighbors.

Shreyas Vasudevan
VISTA Member

A Pittsburgh local, Shreyas graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Political Science and Economics. He likes to spend his spare time reading, working on his cooking skills, listening to music and hanging out with his year-old cat. During his service year, Shreyas is also making time to take some online classes as he figures out what graduate school/program he would like to pursue next.

Wyatt Grant
Vista member

Wyatt is serving as the AmeriCorps VISTA for Tube City Renaissance, a nonprofit focused on community development in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Wyatt graduated in May 2020 from UNC-Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Geography and a Minor in Urban Studies and Planning. In his free time, Wyatt likes to travel, watch and play basketball, and visit art museums. He looks forward to taking advantage of this service year to further Tube City Renaissance’s mission of housing affordability and community engagement, as well as sharpen his skill set towards achieving his long-term goal of working as a city planner.  

*Essifash Glah-Fisher
vista member

Host Organization: New Sun Rising