Foreclosure Prevention Outreach VISTAs, Campaign for Working Families

Posted by on April 20, 2009

[emailed 4/14/09]

VISTA Positions: Foreclosure Prevention Outreach
FOUR VISTAs will provide door-to-door and community outreach services to identify and support homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure.

Working with:   Consumer Credit Counseling Services of the Delaware Valley (CCCSDV); Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition (GPUAC); Community Legal Services (CLS); The Reinvestment Fund (TRF)

Description:   VISTAs will support the Saving Homes/Saving Neighborhoods (SH/SN) program, a joint effort by CCCSDV, CLS, GPUAC and TRF to decrease foreclosure rates and help to stabilize housing in neighborhoods, to retain home values and keep families in their homes.  Tasks include the following.

1.    Participate in door to door outreach efforts to provide information to citizens that may benefit from the SH/SN program
2.    Organize, manage and participate in community fairs and events to promote the Housing Counseling Services and Legal Services of SH/SN
3.    Engage community leaders including religious and civic leaders in campaign to educate home owners about the program.
4.    Present information at public meetings, after worship services and to social workers and job counselors (both at Career Link Centers and to other contracted job training corporations) to ensure saturation of the message throughout the community.
5.    Complete community surveys and enter data into required database programs to ensure activities and document changes in social and economic status of the community.
6.    Participate in operational team meetings to evaluate and strengthen program design and to propose modifications that will increase effectiveness.
7.    Work in concert with Outreach workers to strategize on ways to increase the program visibility within the targeted communities.
8.    Help to design and implement a train-the-trainer model to increase outreach services when we choose to expand the program to new areas.
a.    This could include identifying community partners
b.    Engaging with other service providers operating in the area
c.    Working with the SH/SN team to determine the strength and stability of the community.
Qualifications:
– Associate Degree or B.A. preferred; will consider equivalent experience
– Strong written and oral communications skills
– Comfort doing door-to-door outreach in Philadelphia neighborhoods to inform residents about foreclosure prevention resources
– Willingness and ability to design and present educational information to community groups
– Strong organizational skills
– Computer literate in word processing, spread sheets (data base desired but not required)
– Comfortable in diverse settings of Philadelphians including different language communities, economic groupings and racial and ethnic communities
– Drivers license preferred; if not available, candidate must be willing to travel extensively throughout the city on public transit
– Strong team player, flexible, responsive, able to change plans and work in a constantly shifting work environment
– Commitment to the mission of the Campaign for Working Families.

VISTA Benefits:  VISTA is a federally-funded Americorps program in which participants work full-time for one year.  VISTAs earn $11,388 in salary and enjoy health insurance and transportation assistance.  Child care assistance is also available to those who qualify.  An education award of over $4,000 is provided at the end of service that can be used to pay tuition or student loans at qualified institutions.

Report to:    Director of the Campaign for Working Families

To apply, please send resume and cover letter to Jean Hunt at jhunt@gpuac.org