The VISTA Project

The Challenge
In 2014, Carroll Community College identified a critical barrier to student success: food and housing insecurity. To address this, they partnered with Transform Mid-Atlantic to bring in a dedicated AmeriCorps VISTA who could build a sustainable solution from the ground up.

The Solution
Amanda DeRose stepped into this role to turn the college’s vision into a functional reality. She spent her service year building the infrastructure for the Carroll Food Locker, establishing a comprehensive food pantry and a hot-meal voucher system. By standardizing operations and focusing on student dignity, she ensured the project would outlast her year of service.

The Legacy
What began as a targeted VISTA project is now a permanent institutional fixture. Over a decade later, the Food Locker remains a cornerstone of the college’s basic needs support—proving how a VISTA’s year of service can cement a project into the very fabric of a community.

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Life After VISTA

Today, Amanda serves as the Assistant Director of Student Engagement at Carroll Community College. The leadership and systems-thinking skills she developed as a VISTA now power her work in:

• Service-Learning: Overseeing programs that connect students to community needs.
• Career Development: Helping the next generation of leaders find their professional path.
• Programmatic Growth: Scaling the very initiatives she helped seed during her year of service.