We have hired our VISTA! Her name is Dorothy Feltner, and despite her last name she has never been to Appalachia! In fast the farthest south she has been is Chicago… so she may be in for a culture shock!

But she is really interested in Wellness and gardening, so we think she will fit in nicely. Dorothy is also a sushi chef and wants to do cooking classes with the kids in afterschool! Which will make her a perfect fit.

The only drawback was her driving… but when she gets down here and learns to drive… well she will be able to drive anywhere!

When I was asked to speak at the Grow Gathering (which again I apologize for missing) I really had no idea about the VISTA process other than the application. Now I think wee by week, I have truly came to understand it.

One thing to keep in mind for people that wish to apply next year is the start date. For Lotts Creek, it didnt matter so much, but if your site is 100% dependent on the Grow funds or if you decided to not do grow for the next year, this could be an issue. The training for our lady is May 16-19, which makes her year of service run from at the EARLIEST May 20, 2014- May 20, 2015… which is almost the opposite of the January- December model for the Grow Fiscal year. Not an end of the world issue, but one to keep in mind.

Also keep on mind my lessons from the last blog- how that you will be given less than a week to interview and hire your person. And, that the applicants they give you will be awesome, but at the same time you have no idea how long those applications have sat on a shelf.

Something Candace also told me is that the people must be US citizens as well… so if you are recruiting at a college and have an awesome foreign exchange student  who wants the job, they cannot accept it either.

So a lot of red tape and regulations, and a lot of hurry up and wait, followed by just regular hurry up- but what would you except from the government!!!