VAN BUREN, Maine — Alyssa Kennedy, a lifelong resident of Van Buren, has accepted a yearlong VISTA position with the Rural Resiliency Community Alliance, a volunteer nonprofit organization founded in 2019.
The alliance’s mission is to educate the residents of Van Buren, Limestone and the surrounding communities about Adverse Childhood Experiences and their potentially harmful effects on a person’s physical and mental well-being, and develop individual and community resilience regarding adverse experiences.
The Alliance is also working this year to develop summer and afterschool programs to help children overcome the social and educational disparities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
VISTA, which stands for Volunteers in Service to America, is a federally funded program that sends volunteers to more than 21,000 nonprofit organizations nationwide to help eradicate poverty in the United States. Collaborating with the Good Will System Partnership and Volunteer Maine, hundreds of volunteers, including Alyssa, are helping nonprofit organizations in Maine build capacity and expand their outreach.
Kennedy’s work will include collecting information and analyzing community needs, especially those of our children, youth and elders. She is also developing the means to inform and educate both community members and RRCA’s Board and staff, and help them design and conduct programs to build resiliency and community strengths.
“We are grateful to VISTA and the Good Will System Partnership for their successful efforts to establish and partially fund this important position. We are fortunate that Alyssa has agreed to join our team,” Vanda Madore, president of the alliance’s board of directors, said.
“With her long volunteer experience in the community with the Girl Scouts the local food pantry, and as a peer mentor with the Perfect Ponies Learning Center, she is a natural for the position. Her dedication and commitment to RRCA’s mission of promoting resilience and helping people are a superb addition to our agency.”
