VHA is excited to welcome another member of our 2025–2026 VISTA cohort, Michelle Paquette, who is serving as the Community Development VISTA with Micah Ministries in Fredericksburg, VA.
About Michelle:
Michelle grew up in Virginia and brings 25 years of experience in student ministry, where she often partnered with nonprofits serving individuals facing housing instability. Her passion for community, team-building, and organizational health is grounded in the belief that strong relationships are the key to lasting impact. As a VISTA member, she is deepening her understanding of community engagement while supporting Micah Ministries as they foster connection, promote stability, and advance the Jeremiah Community project —a planned supportive housing neighborhood designed to create long-term stability and belonging for those transitioning out of chronic homelessness. In her free time, Michelle enjoys being outdoors, laughing often, and, most of all, spending time with her husband and two amazing daughters.
Project:
Micah Ministries is a non-profit organization rooted in the belief that caring for the unhoused begins with relationships all centered around the word neighbor. As a VISTA, Michelle is working to build the relational foundation to support Micah’s most ambitious project yet – Jeremiah Community, a supportive housing neighborhood for the chronic unhoused. The Central Park Townhomes community, where Jeremiah Community will be built, reflects a diverse range of demographics, including financial backgrounds, cultures, education levels, ages, and household compositions. Michelle’s work centers on capacity building through asset mapping, community listening and cultivating community partnerships that will allow Jeremiah Community to launch with deep, authentic roots in the community.
So far this year, Michelle has established 10 community partnerships and engaged in numerous conversations with residents, stakeholders, and community leaders. A highlight of this work was organizing a community dinner that brought together nearly 50 Afghan men, many of whom had never previously been in the same room with city school leadership or local organizations. This gathering helped open lines of communication that, in the words of one partner, “didn’t exist before.” Building on relationships with the Muslim Community Center, Fredericksburg City Schools, and Sunshine Ball Park, and in coordination with Blend Fxbg, Michelle helped launch evening English as a Second Language (ESL) classes serving Afghan residents along the Fall Hill Corridor. Michelle also connected the Central Park Townhomes property manager with Micah’s Work Navigation Program, enabling Micah neighbors to be hired to complete a deep cleaning of the Central Park Townhomes property. These opportunities are laying the groundwork for the cross-cultural, trust-based relationships Jeremiah Community will depend on to help the community flourish.
Looking ahead, Michelle is turning that same capacity-building lens inward at Micah itself. Recognizing that volunteers are the backbone of the organization, she has begun assessing volunteer and church engagement needs across staff and partners, with the goal of developing a sustainable training and mentorship program that will help reduce staff burden and better equip the community to serve, both now and as Jeremiah Community grows.