Volunteer and Community Partnership Coordinator

Volunteer And Community Partnership Coordinator

La Casa de Don Pedro, Inc. (LCDP) was founded in 1972 by a group of local activists seeking to establish educational and charitable programs to meet the needs of Newark's Puerto Rican community.

Named in honor of Don Pedro Albizu Campos, LCDP has since evolved to become the largest Latinx-led organization in the state of New Jersey, serving 50,000 Newark and Essex County residents annually under three central pillars: Early Childhood (Prenatal, Early Head Start, Head Start, and Pre-K); Healthy Homes (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Weatherization, Lead Remediation/Abatement); and Community Empowerment (Women & Family Center, Immigration, Workforce Readiness, Youth Enrichment, Housing & Home Ownership Support, and Community Organizing).

La Casa de Don Pedro seeks Volunteer and Community Partnership Coordinators (VCPC) who will support the Family Success Center (FSC) Coordinator and/or Family Success Center (FSC) Site Coordinator by assisting with the day-to-supervision of students and operations of the Family Success Center. To be successful in this role, the Volunteer and Community Partnership Coordinator should be energetic and enjoy teaching and working with families while building partnerships with community partners and volunteers through the community. The Volunteer and Community Partnership Coordinator will serve as an integral member of the Community Empowerment team and will contribute to the overall efficiency of La Casa de Don Pedro by providing personalized and timely support.

Duties And Responsibilities:

Engagement:

• Uses a process that is welcoming and inviting in order to orient and introduce families and individual family members to the FSC.
• Supports the management of the monthly FSC programmatic events calendar.
• Creates opportunities for and encourages families and individual family members to connect with each other.
• Promotes family and community engagement by organizing events.
• Creates opportunities for engaged families and individual family members to bring all their family members to FSC activities.
• Plans and implements special events for families.
• Assists with designing and maintaining furniture, decorations, and food to make the FSC homelike, reflecting the culture of the FSC and community.
• Provides information and assistance to families and the community about a variety of programs
• Attends and responds to families' needs in a helpful, supportive and timely manner.
• Provides families with in-depth information about the service programs available.
• Works with FSC director and family partners to develop strategies for marketing FSC, including specific workshops and services.
• Creates and maintains a clean, warm, and welcoming environment which encourages families to engage in FSC activities and services.
• Builds and maintains positive working relationships with the clients, providers, managers, agency representatives, supervisors and office staff.
• Provides program support by finding and securing new program partnerships that would benefit families in the community.
• Continuously expands knowledge and understanding of community resources, services and programs provided; human relations and the procedures used in dealing with the public as part of a service or program; volunteer resources and the practices associated with using volunteers, operations, functions, policies and procedures associated with the program area, procedures and resources available to handle new, unusual or different situations.
• Meets with clients, individuals and community organizations as needed to create programs designed for individual use and for groups.
• Organizes and participates in various community events to promote the FSC model.
• Manages social media platform to promote the program activities and to increase participants.
• Monitors member reporting on an ongoing basis.
• Other duties as assigned.

Active Listening:

• Creates a space for families to share their goals and/or identify their needs. Uses meaningful inquiry strategies to understand families' interests, goals, and needs.
• Uses a process to debrief with families and individual family members about their stated interests, goals, and needs to match them with available FSC and community resources.
• Facilitates parent involvement and parent leadership at the FSC.
• Assists Managing Director in identifying community resources.

Connecting:

• Identifies and provides information regarding resources, services and activities offered within the community that meet families' and individual family members' interests, goals, and needs.
• Checks in with families and individual family members on their experience in connecting with resources. Asks if they were useful and, if not, helps the member locate another resource.
• Keeps abreast of services and resources available to families, especially in the areas of health, parent education, employment opportunities, training, and housing.
• Collaborates with families and community partners to identify the strengths, challenges and service gaps in the community.
• Identifies opportunities to participate in community events such as health fairs, volunteer expos, parent liaison meetings, parent breakfasts, and community advisory Council meetings.
• Serves as primary liaison for external organizations that provide educational programming and expanded services for families.

Coordination:

• Leads or assists in the implementation of FSC activities and events as assigned by the program director by facilitating groups, hosting events, running meetings, collaborating with community residents and service providers.
• Encourages families and individual family members to participate in volunteer activities at the FSC.
• Has flexibility to work occasional after hours and special events.
• Is able to travel as required to work with staff, clients and community partners.

Educational & Experience Requirements:

Associate's Degree with two years' experience in development or implementation of community-based services, prevention programs, or any other human service programs.

Additional education and related experience are preferred, such as (a.) Bachelor's Degree in a Human Services related field, experience in the provision of prevention related programs (b.) Possess the required education may substitute additional experience as indicated on a year-for-year basis with thirty (30) semester hour credits being equal to one (1) year of experience.

Organizational skills with the ability to manage numerous projects and people simultaneously.

Outstanding human relations and leadership skills, and the ability to function in a team environment.

Effective oral and written communication skills.

Computer literate with proficiency and working knowledge of database and reporting tools such as Microsoft 365 Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint.

Valid New Jersey driver's license, safe driving record, and vehicle availability are required.

Bi-lingual is a plus.

Physical Requirements:

Required to walk and stand for long periods of time.

Required to lift up to 30 pounds.