The VISTA Project

Serving as the AmeriCorps VISTA Pantry Coordinator for the Cardinal Cupboard at The Catholic University of America, Jackie dedicated her service to building sustainable, equitable systems to combat campus food insecurity. Her project focused on transforming operational infrastructure, leveraging community insights, and establishing data-driven practices to expand the pantry's capacity and advocate for long-term resources.

The Challenge
Food insecurity on college campuses often goes unnoticed, masked by social stigma and a lack of centralized tracking. For the Cardinal Cupboard, the challenge was twofold: the pantry relied on inefficient manual tracking systems that limited strategic planning, and it lacked the robust data needed to illustrate the true scope of campus disparities. To build a compelling narrative for resource expansion, the project needed to capture both measurable metrics and the lived experiences of visitors without altering data to fit pre-conceived biases.

The Solution
Jackie drove a structural overhaul of the pantry's operations by designing and implementing a comprehensive annual strategic plan. She transitioned the Cupboard from manual tracking to a CRM-based platform, securing comprehensive visitor profiles while protecting data integrity. To humanize these metrics, she introduced intake surveys utilizing sliding-scale questions to measure the frequency of missed meals, combining hard data with individual stories.

Recognizing that food security is deeply interconnected with other systemic barriers, Jackie empowered volunteers to build trusted relationships with guests, establishing a feedback loop with Campus Ministry. She also onboarded a Master of Social Work intern to provide visitors with direct, one-on-one guidance navigating broader social services in the Washington, D.C. area. Concurrently, she launched a campus outreach campaign that drove a 250% increase in pantry foot traffic and mobilized over 1,000 volunteers for large-scale events like the Thanksgiving Meal Giveaway.

The Legacy
Jackie left behind a highly organized, tech-forward framework that fundamentally changed how the Cardinal Cupboard addresses campus need. By migrating the pantry to a CRM platform, she replaced fragmented record-keeping with a reliable data engine capable of tracking long-term trends and showing clear disparities in basic-needs access. Her integration of an Master of Social Work internship program institutionalized a holistic approach to student care, ensuring that visitors aren't just handed groceries, but are actively connected to long-term social services. The strategic marketing plans and community partnerships she established continue to sustain a massive volunteer pipeline and maintain high campus visibility, securing the pantry's position as a vital, permanent campus resource.

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Life After VISTA

Following her impactful service year, Jackie successfully leveraged her VISTA Non-Competitive Eligibility to build a dynamic career spanning public service, leadership, and entrepreneurship in the DMV area. She stepped into the federal government as a Program Support Specialist for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where she applied her VISTA-honed compliance and data-tracking skills to safeguard and process millions in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funding.

Driven by her lifelong commitment to community care, Jackie also stepped into major leadership roles with AmeriCorps Alums DC, serving as Board President and Fundraising Committee Chair to support local service alumni. Channeling her decades of hands-on household operations and passion for personalized care, she ultimately transitioned into entrepreneurship, launching Purrsonable Home Solutions—a premier, fully bonded, insured, and pet CPR-certified cat and house-sitting business serving Northern Virginia and the greater Washington, D.C. region.