NeighborWorks of Western Vermont, 110 Marble Street, West Rutland, VT

This position is part of the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board AmeriCorps (VHCB AmeriCorps).  The VHCB AmeriCorps program supports the innovative dual-goal approach to creating stable affordable housing opportunities for Vermont residents while preserving the natural and working landscape.  VHCB is a national service program that places AmeriCorps members with non-profit housing or land and energy conservation organizations around the state.

NeighborWorks of Western Vermont (NWWVT), with offices in West Rutland and Bennington, is a one-stop-shop, providing all the answers and support a homebuyer or homeowner needs – homebuyer education, realty, lending, energy efficiency and home repair. What makes NeighborWorks of Western Vermont different is our non-profit mission: to build great communities, one dream home at a time.

This position will be instrumental in designing and implementing outreach and community engagement efforts for all our service areas. This position will be based in the West Rutland office and will further community awareness and engagement with all of NeighborWorks of Western VT services- financial capabilities, homebuyer education, realty, lending, energy efficiency, and home repair. This position will be very involved with community revitalization efforts in Northwest Rutland in collaboration with Project VISION, involving community building, engagement, and organizing activities such as planning and implementing block parties, surveys, and facilitating neighborhood association meetings.

Essential Functions:

• Design and implement opportunities to educate, inform, and engage with the public about all of NWWVT’s services
• Complete “town treasure hunts” and other community engagement activities to increase the presence of NWWVT across its many service areas
• Execute various outreach strategies and initiatives; work with community leaders, community committees, and other grassroots organizations to further the mission of the NWWVT
• Implement housing and homeownership-related revitalization strategies in coordination with Project VISION in Rutland City. Project VISION (www.projectvisionrutland.com) is an innovative community revitalization effort that has received statewide and national attention. Among other duties, this would involve working with the Community, Housing and Neighborhoods committee on community improvement projects, volunteer efforts, and direct community outreach.
• Other functions based on the skillset of the member within AmeriCorps guidelines
• Overall assistance for the NWWVT team, working closely with the Communications and Outreach Coordinator

Marginal Functions:

• Attend meetings, webinars, trainings, and events that are related to and/or associated with services of NWWVT, may make presentations at events.
• Helping with related program paperwork, filing, data entry, data tracking, phone calls, and calculations as necessary.
• Help tell NWWVT customer success stories by creating testimonials and white pages.

Desired Qualifications:

• Prior experience with housing and financial education is not required- training is offered
• Good people skills, outgoing, team player, self-directed, computer skills, and leadership abilities.
• Strong desire to be exposed to and willingness to help diverse populations.
• Reliable, independent transportation is an absolute must and ability to attend local and national trainings is required.
• Capable of effective oral and written communication with all members of society, and comfortable with public speaking.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, leadership skills, and personable are all a must.
• Ability to maintain focus and productivity in an “open space” environment with routine distractions.
• Equally effective working independently as well as part of a team.
• Strong computer skills. Familiar with Microsoft Office, including Word, Publisher, PowerPoint and Excel, and willingness to learn CRM Salesforce.
• Willingness to learn and attend trainings

Minimum Qualifications:

• Be US citizen or have permanent resident status (call with questions about this);
• Be at least 18 years of age upon entering the Pre-Service Orientation (there is no upper age limit), or 17 years of age with written parental permission that has been verified by phone;
• Be a high school graduate or have a GED certificate, or be willing to work towards their GED as part of service-year. A candidate may not drop out of high school to join AmeriCorps.  If a member has a documented medical reason/professional opinion why they cannot finish high school, they might be eligible; call in this case;
• Has not been convicted of murder or sexual assault and is willing to undergo an National Service Criminal History Check
• Be committed to the VHCB AmeriCorps program, and its ethic of service and personal and professional development of its participants;
• Have the ability and enthusiasm to drive to, attend, and participate in required trainings and events, and be prepared to drive up to 2-3 hours each way.
• Willingness to participate in support and collaborate with fellow VHCB AmeriCorps members, and members from other AmeriCorps Programs.
• Willingness to participate in a self-designed Independent Service Project and other VHCB AmeriCorps Program Initiatives.

Additional Information:

Service will be primarily performed in an office setting but will include some outdoor, public, on-site service time as well. Attendance at events in evenings and weekends may be required.

Position begins September 11^th, 2017 and ends August 10^th, 2018.

This position is:

Full Time: Requires 1,700 hours and serves approximately 40 hours per week for 11 months.   Member will receive a living allowance of $17,850 (pre-tax), and an education award of $5,815 (pre-tax) upon successful completion of service.  Other benefits include health insurance, federal school loan forbearance, and various training opportunities.

To Apply: Send your resume and a cover letter to Shannon Kennelly. For questions about this position or to send additional materials:

Shannon Kennelly

Communications and Outreach Coordinator

110 Marble Street

West Rutland, VT 05777

[email protected]

(802) 797-8606

 

Application deadline: August 16, 2017

Additional information on AmeriCorps is available at www.americorps.org.

The Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB) is sponsoring this AmeriCorps position through their AmeriCorps Program. VHCB is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  Positions are open to all applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, political affiliation, veteran’s status, religion or creed.