LEWISTON — On Aug. 5, West Paris resident Tom Gallant joined a team of nine Maine Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTAs to serve a one-year term as the AmeriCorps VISTA leader for the 2016-17 team.

Gallant will support a team of nine VISTAs throughout the state. He is responsible for creating professional development opportunities and trainings, organizing team meetings and the recruitment of new members. He will also assist Maine Campus Compact in building its organizational capacity.

AmeriCorps VISTA programming builds the organizational, administrative and financial capacity of nonprofit organizations to fight poverty. Maine Campus Compact’s VISTA program is focused on increasing college access and success for K-12 students as a long-term method for decreasing poverty rates.