North Coast Opportunities, Inc. (NCO) is the Community Action Agency that serves Lake and Mendocino Counties, as well as parts of Humboldt, Sonoma, Del Norte, and Solano Counties. NCO was established in 1968 as part of President Johnson's War on Poverty, with the mission of assisting low-income and disadvantaged people to become self-reliant. NCO provides a safety net of emergency assistance, employment, and training services for low-income individuals and families.


The Gardens Project is one of NCO's Community Wellness Projects and facilitates the development of community-supported gardens throughout Lake and Mendocino Counties. We seek to relieve hunger and inadequate nutrition throughout Mendocino and Lake Counties by creating access to community-based food production and local, nutritious food. We work with local government and private landowners to lease underutilized land around low-income neighborhoods for the creation of new community gardens. In addition, we work to educate the community about sustainable food production and healthy eating through garden and nutrition workshops, and work to empower our gardeners through leadership training.

Check out our website: www.gardensproject.org https://www.ncoinc.org/programs/gardens-project/
and Facebook page www.facebook.com/ncogardensproject for more information

The VISTA member will work with an existing community garden network to build capacity and enhance sustainability of the gardens and program. A primary focus of this VISTA position will be assisting with setup of a data management system and the creation of systems for efficient and accurate data collection and analysis. They will develop resources for garden leaders to ensure effective management of community gardens and will work with the leaders to strengthen their management teams and set up systems of communication and idea sharing between all garden leaders. They will collaborate with the Mendocino Gardens Project VISTA to develop a fundraising plan to raise money for garden scholarships, garden development and workshops. They will recruit and manage volunteers for ongoing garden development and support. Along with the Mendocino Gardens Project VISTA, they will be responsible for outreach and promotion of the program through social media and will be instrumental in helping brainstorm and implement projects that tell the stories of our gardeners and importance of our program.  The VISTA member will partner with local organizations, businesses, clubs, and groups with complementary visions to Gardens Project’s to support funding and projects and promote Gardens Project’s work. This position will be based part time out of our Ukiah office and part time in Lake County. 

A second VISTA position with NCO Gardens Project will be available during the same time period. This position will be housed at the Plowshares Peace and Justice Center.  develop and implement a volunteer recruitment and mentoring program to support the garden with strategies that enable the senior volunteers to pass on their invaluable experience and be instrumental in the training of our future volunteers. The VISTA will leave a sustainable impact within the community by developing and implementing a donor development plan to support the garden, broaden the scope of collaboration and funding efforts, create program manuals, and hone a marketing strategy by enhancing visibility on social media and promotion of an updated website. Key partnerships with like-minded organizations can prevent duplication of services and promote programming to empower the community to emerge from poverty through education in growing and cooking nutritious food, hands-on experience and classroom training which will enhance life skills, better health and promote employment opportunities for volunteers and Plowshares dining hall guests. More information about this position as well as other VISTA positions at NCO can be found here: https://www.ncoinc.org/programs/community-wellness-projects/americorpsvista/ 
 

Service term: April 15 2019- April 14 2020 
 

Benefits include: biweekly living allowance, education award upon successful completion of service, training, relocation allowance, health coverage, childcare assistance if eligible, choice of education award or end of service stipend