About Volunteers for Community Impact

Building Stronger Communities Through Generations of Service in Central Florida

Our Mission

Improving Lives Through Volunteerism

Volunteers for Community Impact (VCI) empowers caring individuals to strengthen Central Florida communities by guiding senior volunteers into purposeful roles. Through meaningful service, we foster connections, enrich lives, and enable positive change across Orange, Seminole, Osceola, and Volusia counties.

Who We Are

Founded in 1974 (originally as Florida Senior Programs, Inc.), VCI is a proud local sponsor of these AmeriCorps Senior Programs
Foster Grandparent Program,
Senior Companion Program

Our Programs

• Foster Grandparent Program (FGP): Senior volunteers mentor and tutor children in educational settings, providing caring support and academic encouragement.
• Senior Companion Program (SCP): Volunteers offer companionship and assistance to older adults, helping them live independently and stay socially connected.
• OTTER (Older Teachers Teaching Young Readers): A literacy program connecting older volunteers with early readers to foster a love of reading.
• Other Initiatives: Over the years, we have launched and supported programs like Cyber-Seniors and My Brother’s Keeper (MBK). We continually evaluate which programs best serve our mission and community.

Our Impact

• Communities Served: Orange, Seminole, Osceola, and Volusia counties
• Volunteer Engagement: Hundreds of seniors give thousands of hours annually
• Lives Transformed: Children gain mentors and reading support; older adults receive friendship, assistance, and greater quality of life
• Partnerships & Supporters: We collaborate with schools, nonprofits, local governments, and community organizations to amplify our reach

Why It Matters

In a rapidly changing world, older adults offer invaluable wisdom, time, and empathy. Rather than retiring from service, many want to give back. VCI is the bridge connecting motivated volunteers to community needs, creating intergenerational bonds that uplift all.

Join Us

Whether you’re a senior looking to volunteer, a community organization seeking partner volunteers, or someone who wants to support us — there’s a place for you here.

Where we started…

We were originally incorporated as Florida Senior Programs in 1974. FGP was the first program that VCI sponsored. A few years later, we opened Orange County RSVP. At that time, VCI essentially ran as two completely independent non-profits who shared a Board of Directors.

Our FGP program had a director and was housed at one location, while RSVP had a different director and a different office. FGP and RSVP did not collaborate regularly or interact with each other except for sharing the same board. Each program ran its own budget, recognition events, and strategic plans. Again, they were siloed to such a degree that they were effectively two completely different nonprofit organizations.

In 2013 Florida Senior Programs changed their name and operations. To reflect our new focus on making impactful volunteer opportunities for seniors we changed the name to Volunteers for Community Impact. We also moved RSVP into the same office as FGP. And to show that we were one organization instead of two separate ones our logo shows different branches with different fruit – but all growing from the same trunk.

Within a few years we expanded our FGP program from Orange County to Volusia, Seminole, and Osceola Counties. We also began expanding our RSVP program, obtaining grants to offer RSVP programs in Volusia and Osceola. In 2018 we expanded our RSVP program into Seminole County.

In 2022, thanks to increased funding we were able to start our Senior Companion Program.

So that now brings us to VCI and our current programming. VCI currently has a Foster Grandparent Program, a Senior Companion Program, and OTTER.  We lost our RSVP grants during the spring of 2025 when many AmeriCorps programs around the country lost the same.  We hope to regain our RSVP grants at some point in the future if and when these grants are once again available for applicants.