AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) is a nationwide service program created to address poverty in the U.S. and designed to “improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering.”
VISTA Campus is the online training center built for AmeriCorps members and sponsors. Much like an in-person campus, the VISTA Campus platform provides its members with a space for education and networking opportunities. Members use VISTA Campus to access required courses, optional learning tools, and supportive resources. Additionally, AmeriCorps sponsors can utilize VISTA Campus as a way in which to network with other VISTA sponsors and program supervisors.
Esteemed Digital partnered with VISTA Campus to maintain and enhance the AmeriCorps platform.
In order to build their website, VISTA Campus partnered with multiple vendors, including JBS International and Phase2, two digital agencies that provided creative services. Their existing site was built in Drupal 7 and VISTA Campus wished to continue with the open-source CMS platform, so the client required a Drupal expert to help transform their vision into a solid web product. And, given the number of partners invested in the project, VISTA Campus needed to find a developer with a strong project management background and industry experience.
To achieve this, Esteemed Digital provided the VISTA Campus team with a senior Drupal developer with years of experience working with government agencies and educational platforms. Esteemed Digital delivered web development assistance, including maintenance and support, mobile-driven development, and custom code.
The resulting solution is fully responsive and uses the minimalist Aurora base theme for Drupal. To enhance performance, Esteemed Digital’s developer employed Sass (a powerful, professional grade CSS extension language). The upgraded site also uses the Panels module, which was chosen to create custom layout configurations, and the Organic Groups module to provide an array of community and collaboration features.
Esteemed Digital has assisted with ongoing feature enhancement requests through contributed module additions and custom code. The senior Drupal developer who oversaw the project continues to work in an Agile style with a complex workflow involving GIT, the Acquia Cloud platform, and the JIRA ticketing system, wherein he collaborates with developers and stakeholders.
Esteemed Digital was quick to provide the client with a highly qualified, professional Drupal developer who has actively maintained and enhanced the flagship property of the AmeriCorps VISTA program.
The VISTA Campus platform prepares AmeriCorps members for a life of service in public, private, and nonprofit sectors. The site itself continues to help members of the VISTA program connect, collaborate, and take advantage of the many resources available to them through AmeriCorps.
