Definitions and vocabulary...

• CNCS - Corporation for National Community Service. This is the biggest umbrella in this whole system. They funnel the money down into the states that then disperse funds to different organizations which then finally makes its way into the direct deposit of VISTA and Volunteers.
• AmeriCorps - The domestic Peace Corps started by Lyndon Johnson given the task of "eradicating poverty." It comes up every now and again with different Presidents as well - Bill Clinton for one.
  
• PlusTimeNH - NH's AfterSchool Program Advocate. PlusTime is the fiscal agent through which my stipends, and those of many others, flows. PlusTime is located in Chichester, NH and the people there, mainly Traci Fowler, Gary Faucher, and Renee Lindley are the ones with whom I interact the most.
  
• VISTA - Volunteer In Service To America. pretty simple. not to be confused with the new, sucky, Windows operating system. (plural VISTAs)
  
• PlusTimeNH AmeriCorps*VISTA Member - That's my title because I'm a VISTA through PlusTime... and I often find myself explaining what my title actually means and involves. This is a common occurrence as an AmeriCorps member, whether VISTA or Volunteer or those other ones I don't know a lot about.
• 21st Century Community Learning Centers - Funding stream authorized by the (in)famous No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Funds are earmarked for dispersal to the states for the formation of out-of-school time educational initiatives. If a site is granted a 21CCLC grant it will be level funded for the 3 of the 5 years. In the 4th year funding is cut 25% and then an additional 10% in year 5.
  
• Manchester, NH - where I live and work. Manchester (Manchvegas or, my favorite, Manchattan) is the biggest city north of Boston and is uniquely situation both geographically and politically. It is also an Immigrant Resettlement Site and, at one point, was voted the #1 small city in which to live in America or something like that.
  
• Manchester 21st CCLC Afterschool Program - my site. I work inside the Manchester School District, SAU #37, and the afterschool program is in 11 of the district's schools. There is one site coordinator at each school and then my site director, Donna Mostovoy, oversees the operations of the program as a whole... which is a ton of paperwork, emails, responsibility and phone calls.