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Approving the expenditure of program dollars on housing expenses for Ariel Sehr, the VISTA Leader of Saint Paul's VISTA Program, in an amount not to exceed $2,250.
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WHEREAS, the VISTA Manager position is temporarily vacant since the resignation of the former manager; and
WHEREAS, this is an extremely busy time in the VISTA program cycle which requires daily activity to required Federal task; and
WHEREAS, the VISTA Leader, Ariel Sehr, who reports to the VISTA Manager, has taken on additional responsibilities during the vacancy of the VISTA Manager position and it is anticipated will still have a higher than usual work load during the on-boarding of the new VISTA Manager; and
WHEREAS, the VISTA Leader, in keeping with the requirements and philosophy of the national Americorps VISTA program, is paid poverty-level wages of $13,308 annually; and
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul has received a grant in the amount of $263,666 from the Corporation for National and Community Service to provide up to 21 AmeriCorp VISTA members to the Saint Paul VISTA Program for the 2014-2015 program year; and
WHEREAS, organizations hosting VISTA members are allowed to pay a portion of a VISTA member's housing expenses; and
WHEREAS, the expenses must be paid directly to the landlord and not to the VISTA member; and
WHEREAS, VISTA members may accept offers of free or low-cost housing from community members, educational institutions, or sponsoring organizations; and
WHEREAS, the grantee share of the Saint Paul VISTA program is funded through cost share dollars received from partnering community organizations; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that Saint Paul VISTA Program staff are authorized to use program dollars on housing expenses for Ariel Sehr, in an amount not to exceed $2,250.