AmeriCorps*VISTA.

2002-2003

 

Verna    Patrick     Laureen     Kristin_g   Kristin_f   Evan    Charles    Colleen

How did AmeriCorps*VISTA get to Gallup, NM and what do they do?

Presented from the view of AmeriCorps*VISTA Charlie Koehler
with input from fellow Vistas,
and other community members,
VISTA has worked with in Gallup and McKinley County. 

At the same time AGB hit the roadblocks, a group of 8 AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteers were recruited by means of a federal grant administered by McKinley County and supervised by UNM - Gallup. The VISTAs were brought to work for the Adventure Gallup and Beyond initiative to help create jobs and promote economic development with an ethical mission to support Sustainable Adventure Tourism in Native American Communities, or SATNAC as it has come to be known. The idea of SATNAC is to encourage low income, rural populations in Native American Communities to participate in the development of adventure tourism as an economic development opportunity. The VISTAs arrived shortly after AGB had lost its momentum and they had a difficult time conceiving what AGB was and what their specific roles within it and the VISTA worksites were. The first couple of months were confusing and convoluted as the VISTAs, their supervisors, and partners slowly pieced together the puzzle of Adventure Gallup and Beyond. Eventually the picture of AGB become clearer and the community driven adventure tourism initiative was brought back to the table.

Each of the 8 VISTAs from the 2002-2003 year has been placed with an organization or project that shares the vision of economic development and adventure tourism in McKinley County. The VISTAs are charged with helping to develop and support their organization as well as form partnerships, establish networks, mend relationships, and facilitate communication among their worksite and other local governmental agencies, tribal institutions, public and private organizations and individual collaborators, who all share the vision. AmeriCorps*VISTA members work independently under the general supervision of their worksite supervisor while they fulfill specific duties involved in creating the capacity for sustainable adventure tourism. Simultaneously, the VISTAs work closely as a team while they strive to create linkages and partnerships within the community. After every fourth week at their separate worksites, the VISTAs devote one day to one week working directly together at the VISTA project office, located at the University of New Mexico - Gallup Campus. The office is referred to as the SATNAC Center.

Adventure Gallup and Beyond Adventure Tourism Initiative.

In 1999 the community of Gallup, NM conducted a Community Economic Development Strategic (CEDS) plan to brainstorm ideas for economic development for the county. It determined that adventure tourism was a potential project that could develop the area, retain and expand existing businesses and create new business and jobs. A Feasibility Study funded through a Community Development Block Grant demonstrated that an adventure tourism program could initially and conservatively increase tourism spending in Gallup by $5,000,000, create 120 new jobs and provide a myriad of local volunteer and recreational activities. In 2000 six committees were formed including a steering committee, advisory board, hospitality committee, implementation committee, land use committee, and activity center committee; thus creating Adventure Gallup and Beyond (AGB) adventure tourism economic development initiative. AGB began as a community driven initiative; a shared idea representing “everything good that Gallup is and that it can become.” To understand such a broad and expansive idea, it may be helpful to consider that the words Adventure Gallup and Beyond have become the “brand” of that idea.  

During its inception, AGB was supported as a special project through the Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments and funded by grants acquired through the 501(C)(3) status of the NWNM Community Development Corporation. Both corporations are under the direction of Patty Lundstrom, who is also a New Mexico State Legislative Representative.

In 2001 and 2002 Adventure Gallup and Beyond was focused on developing each of the committees’ respective roles in the initiative. Special emphasis was placed on the Activity Center Committee to plan the creation of a central place to house the initiative, disseminate information and market its potential products to the public; and the Land Use Committee in order to get legal access to the “products”, i.e. recreational trails and a rock climbing area. Despite the organizational success, and positive public response to the initiative (the Implementation Committee numbered over 100 individuals), AGB ran into major legal roadblocks and failed to gain the public access it needed. These roadblocks, in addition to the laying off of the planner hired by the NWNM Council of Governments to perform the majority of the organizational work surrounding AGB, caused things to come to a standstill.

Adventure Gallup… Incorporated

A portion of the Adventure Gallup and Beyond project is currently being focused under the direction and funding of the NWNM Community Development Corporation (CDC). The CDC is concentrating specifically on business creation possibilities as they relate to the overall community project. The CDC is consulting with the Adventure Gallup and Beyond Steering Committee, which are represented by local business leaders, health professionals, educators, enthusiasts, VISTA and local governments. The CDC has hired a consulting team to help design a plan for an incorporated business that will act as an adventure tourism “guiding” resource and marketing agent as well as an adventure tourism business incubator and co-op. It will strive to hire individuals to work for the corporation, and at the same time matriculate them and other entrepreneurs through business and financial training so they eventually can start their own adventure tourism related business that will be sub-contracted by the incorporated business. It is currently proposed that the business be designed as a self-sustaining for-profit corporation and will take a name such as Adventure Gallup Inc. The name Adventure Gallup and Beyond is still associated with the “brand” of the whole project, yet it remains confusing to many of the people who were involved with the AGB initiative from the beginning. Because of the plans to create a for-profit corporation with a similar name, many people may wonder whether or not the initiative continues to be community driven. Despite the doubts and confusion, the Adventure Gallup and Beyond adventure initiative is still a wide-ranging community driven initiative. One of the goals of the McKinley Co. AmeriCorps*VISTA is to try to make sure this is so.

The VISTA worksites and the many other organizations that have been connected through partnerships and networking before and after VISTA arrived, make up the small-interconnected pieces of the “Whole” that once was easily understood and recognized as Adventure Gallup and Beyond. Confusion around project names and use of those names continues to be a struggle and needs to be cleared up. Just because what once was a part of the “Brand” has now become narrowed and focused into a specific plan for a business, doesn’t mean that the whole initiative has become more narrowed. In fact, since the “Whole” lost exclusive use of its “Brand”, it has become more encompassing and has again picked up momentum. The question now is what do we call it? Does it need a name? It could still be called Adventure Gallup and Beyond whereas the business created may be called Adventure Gallup Incorporated. Perhaps the business will take on a different name and thus end some of the confusion. But in any effect, the business, along with the many other organizations and partners that make up the “Whole”, can still be referred to by what many people have always defined it as, “Everything Good that Gallup Is and that it Can Become.”

This project is young in many ways and it is an exciting time for AmeriCorps*VISTA to be involved. We have opportunities to provide valuable input into a long-term, sustainable economic development project that will have a positive impact on the region in so many ways even beyond economics. It is also a constantly evolving project that has been transitioning from community inception to implementation, thus it needs to be approached with an open mind and a willingness to “go with the flow.”