LEWISTON — The Center for Wisdom’s Women and Tree Street Youth began under the fiscal sponsorship of Trinity Church in 2008. They both continue to grow. In 2015 The Center logged 2,574 visits from women, a 20 percent increase more than the previous year. In the past year, Tree Street’s program offerings had 547 different students participating, with daily totals ranging from 120-150 students.

To support the growth, and looking toward expanding their spaces, both programs will host new VISTA members who will work full time as staff focusing on donor development, social networking and fundraising.

Dianna DeCosta will be the development coordinator at the Center for Wisdom’s Women. Claire Cummings will be serving as the development coordinator at Tree Street Youth Community Center. Both agencies are in downtown Lewiston, and both women are placed as AmeriCorps VISTA members serving through the Goodwill of Northern New England’s Partnership Program.

DeCosta, born and raised in Auburn, graduated from Edward Little High School in 1997. In 2001, she served as an AmeriCorps member under the sponsorship of Coastal Enterprise’s Maine Service Corps. She graduated from the program in 2003 and set her sights on a college degree. She now returns to a life of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA at The Center.

As the development coordinator she will be responsible for volunteer coordination, promotion and communication, grant research and writing, organizing the program’s structure, fundraising and the development of a small social enterprise. The goal is for The Center to grow from a weekday drop-in center to opening a 24/7 long-term, residential housing and recovery program.

A native of Norway, Cummings graduated from Wellesley College in May with a degree in political science with a focus in community development. Currently, she is one of two VISTA members serving at Tree Street. The other VISTA member, Yaw Anoff of Lewiston, is already serving as the volunteer coordinator, focusing on improving volunteer outreach, participation and retention.

As the development coordinator, Cummings will be responsible for increasing Tree Street’s media visibility by implementing a more comprehensive social media plan, ensuring a constant flow of verbal and visual proof of Tree Street’s successes within the community. In addition to social media, she will also work on donor outreach and community partnership building, assisting with the ongoing project to renovate and expand Tree Street’s facilities. The hope is to enable Tree Street to support the ever-increasing number of local youth who participate in afterschool and summer program.

VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) is a program of AmeriCorps. Members apply and, once chosen for a position, serve in local service organizations. Since 1965, more than 170,000 VISTAs have served all over the United States. VISTA members serve in some of our nation’s poorest urban and rural areas, building communities by mobilizing local resources and giving people the tools they need to help themselves. VISTAs receive a modest living allowance, health care benefits and either an education award on completion of service or $1,500 stipend. Host sites contribute toward those costs.