Seasonal Jobs in the Area

As part of working on increasing youth engagement in the community, the "I am C.H.A.N.G.E." Coalition and the Mediation Center have put together a information sheet on holiday jobs in the area, including information on which stores are hiring for the holidays and some basic tips for those seeking jobs. Feel free to print and distribute the flyer widely as part of our effort to get this timely information out to those in the community while employers are still hiring!

Highlights this Week

Lots of things have been going on at the Mediation Center during the first full week of October!

Here are a few highlights:

• Project Director Amy Ellenbogen enjoyed the holiday of Sukkot with Governor Paterson, Senator Eric Adams, Council Member John Liu and Council Member Letitia James at the Jewish Children's Museum on Eastern Parkway. Click here for Senator Eric Adams' press release.
  

• Lawyers from Legal Aid came to the Mediation Center this week for our monthly immigration clinic, and assisted seventeen people with their immigration status.

• Program Associate Eleanor Anderson launched fall recruitment for the Greenpoint Youth Court, and met with students and leaders at area schools to recruit for this program. Applications are due Tuesday, October 13. For more information or an application, email eanderson@crownheights.org or call 646-460-1764.

• The Mediation Center met with People's Production House, an organization that emphasizes media and media skills in its pursuit of social change.
  

• This was also the first full week of work for our new Americorps members. We welcome them warmly to the Mediation Center as they get to know their way around the office!

Job Opening at Harlem Community Justice Center

Project: Harlem Community Justice Center
Title: Reentry Task Force Coordinator

Located in an old magistrate's courthouse in the heart of East Harlem, the Harlem Community Justice Center (the Justice Center) is a community-based court and resource center that works to solve neighborhood problems in East and Central Harlem, including juvenile delinquency, deteriorating housing, substance abuse, and the challenges presented by ex-offenders returning from incarceration. The Task Force Coordinator will manage the Upper Manhattan Reentry Task Force project. The Task Force seeks to achieve two broad goals: 1) Enhancing public safety; and, 2) Reducing recidivism among parolees returning to the Upper Manhattan neighborhoods of East and Central Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood. We are seeking a highly skilled, assertive, and independent professional who is a leader and able to produce results.

Duties:

• Coordinate Reentry Task Force activities, including the convening of Task Force meetings, preparing agendas, enacting recommendations for reduced recidivism and enhanced public safety.
  
• Maintain the Task Force blog, including the development of original content, daily blog post, and tracking of blog activity.
• Interface with Task Force member agency representatives, including the Mayor's Office, NYPD, NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services and State Division of Parole.
• Lead the development of a pilot case management program for high-risk parolees.
• Develop employment supports for formerly incarcerated persons.
• Develop a community engagement and education strategy that increases awareness of effective prisoner and jail reentry practices and greater participation in Task Force programs.
• Develop community forums for formerly incarcerated persons, community stakeholders, law makers and community corrections professionals.
• Attend trainings and conferences and present on Task Force efforts.
• Work with the Research Associate to conduct analysis of data and produce reports.
• Develop whitepapers, fact sheets, and other Task Force materials for dissemination.
• Assist the Project Director in fundraising and grant management activities, including pre-proposal brainstorm meetings, drafting/organizing of proposals and progress reports, and tracking of deliverables for each funding stream.
• Prepare quarterly progress reports.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree required, master's degree in social work of public management preferred;
• Exceptional analytical and writing skills required;
• Excellent presentation skills, including knowledge of Power Point required;
• Must be familiar with blogs and online publishing technology;
• Experience in the areas of prisoner reentry or community corrections desired;
• Experience in grant writing and event organizing desired;
• Bi-lingual (English/Spanish) desired;
• Must be available for occasional weekend and evening work.

Salary: Commensurate with experience -- excellent benefits.

Posting Date: October 2, 2009
Closing Date: November 2, 2009

Send resume and writing sample to:

Christopher Watler, Project Director
Harlem Community Justice Center
170 East 121st Street
New York, NY 10035
Fax (212) 360-4996
Email: watlerc@courtinnovation.org
No phone calls please.

The Harlem Community Justice Center is operated by the Center for Court Innovation, a project of the Fund for the City of New York. See our website at www.courtinnovation.org.

The Fund for the City of New York is an equal opportunity employer.

I am C.H.A.N.G.E.

Since the beginning of September, a new coalition has been meeting at the Mediation Center. Organized by Assemblyman Karim Camara and Council Member Letitia James and comprised of organizations, leaders, and residents of Crown Heights, the I am C.H.A.N.G.E. (Crown Heights Area Next Generation's Empowerment) group has taken up the issue of disconnected youth as its focus.

The group has defined disconnected youth as people ages 16-24 who are both out of school and out of a job. In an effort to reduce the numbers of disconnected youth in the community and re-engage them in a positive way, participants in I am C.H.A.N.G.E. have been working together and building partnerships between the various organizations and individuals involved, with the belief that much more can be accomplished through combining our efforts.

In this collaborative spirit, the group has decided that its first event will reach out to the target group of youth in a direct way, through street team outreach. The event will feature a musical performance as well as an array of resources through which youth can become engaged in the community in a positive way.

Though still in the planning stage, the goal of the event will be to engage disconnected youth in a way that facilitates the opportunity for youth to connect with the available resources in area, to build relationships, to illustrate the value and importance of utilizing one's voice, and to be able to move forward after the event in a sustainable way.

Look out for more information on this exciting event in the coming weeks!

Job Opening at Mediation Center

Position: Office Manager/Trainer (Volunteer AmeriCorps Position with a living stipend and educational award)

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A SALARIED POSITION

The Organization:

The Crown Heights Community Mediation Center is a unique neighborhood institution that works to improve community problem-solving, collaboration, and inter-group relations in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Operating out of our storefront offices since 1998, the Mediation Center seeks innovative ways to promote community cohesion in our neighborhood, known for fragmentation. This includes providing residents with links to resources on issues like education, parenting, housing, and immigration; providing support to young people navigating the challenges of a community tainted by violence, drugs, and poverty; and galvanizing neighborhood, borough, and city stakeholders in order to improve the quality of life for all residents.

Responsibilities:

General office administration:

• Provide secretarial and administrative support.
• Process and respond to general requests for information.
• Manage and maintain inventory of office supplies and all office equipment.
• Manage calendar and appointments for the Judge and Director as needed.
• Manage and maintain contacts database.

Accounting/Financial Management

• Prepare vendor payment requisitions for external vendors.
• Maintain filing system of receipts and invoices.
• Manage relationships with external vendors.

Training

• Assist in conflict resolution and mediation trainings when needed (the opportunity for increased responsibility facilitating trainings may be available if desired).
• Coordinate the program planning and activities for the Crown Heights Leadership Training Institute. The Crown Heights Leadership is a program designed to bring together diverse members of the community together to learn concrete skills in community strengthening such as coalition building. Grant writing, working with the media, etc…

Qualifications:

• Ability to multi-task and adapt to changing environments
• Computer savvy including knowledge of Microsoft Suite
• Excellent phone manner
• Personable and excellent people skills
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Ability to work well with diverse populations
• Personal experience with public assistance, food stamps, public housing, homelessness, or medicaid is a plus but not needed
• Commit to the mission and purpose of the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center
• Represent the Mediation Center in a professional manner

This is a Full-Time AmeriCorps Member position. The Office Manager/Trainer will serve 1700 hours in 365 days, receive a living stipend, and an educational stipend.

To apply: No phone calls please. Please email your resume and cover letter to crownheightsjobs@gmail.com Please put the job title, “Office Manager/Trainer” in the subject line. Please submit your resume as soon as possible.

The Fund for the City of New York is an equal opportunity employer. Diversity gives us strength and depth. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply.

Coro Presentation on Crown Heights

Last week the New York cohort of Coro Fellows in Public Affairs gave an evening presentation of their findings about Crown Heights, after studying the community intensively during the previous week. In pursuit of what they referred to as the "logic of change" in Crown Heights, they spent the week immersed in researching the community and the institutions, individuals, and leaders that influence how change occurs here.

Their presentation took place at the Mediation Center and was attended by Coro alumni, community members, and Mediation Center staff. Based on their research, the Fellows developed a model of change that they posited must occur for change to happen, the steps of which include recognition of an issue, a willingness to change on the part of the players involved, and the appropriate resources and programs to faciliate the potential change itself. In group discussions about the details of their model and the various resources in the community, attendees had a chance to discuss Crown Heights in the context of a public affairs reading of the community, with a group of people who had experienced the neighborhood in a unique way--not by living or working in it, but by studying it intensively for a short period of time.

The Mediation Center was happy to host the Coro Fellows during their week of study in Crown Heights, and their insights proved thought-provoking for all who attended their presentation.

Job Opening at Midtown Community Court

Community Restitution Crew Supervisor/Horticulture

Midtown Community Court

The Midtown Community Court, an innovative criminal justice project, seeks a Community Restitution Crew Supervisor/Horticulture. The Midtown Community Court is a public-private project of the Center for Court Innovation/Fund for the City of New York, which works with the New York State court system to enhance public confidence in justice by improving how courts conduct business. Midtown's mission is to respond constructively to quality-of-life crime and work to prevent further crime before it occurs. It accomplishes this goal by sentencing persons arrested for misdemeanors in Times Square, Chelsea and Clinton to perform community restitution -- cleaning out tree pits, painting over graffiti, sweeping the streets and stuffing envelopes for area non-profits. The Court also offers social services onsite to the defendants.

Community Restitution Crew Supervisor/Horticulture

Reporting to the Senior Facilities Manager, the Community Crew Supervisor is responsible for supervising defendants completing their community service by doing painting and gardening projects in the Midtown neighborhood or by cleaning and maintaining the Court building.

Responsibilities:

The responsibilities of the Community Crew Supervisor will be the following:

• Supervise crew of defendants daily
• Work with defendants to engage them in social services at the Court
• Oversee horticulture activities including: cleaning out street tree pits, seeding, planting flowerbeds
• Oversee painting over graffiti in neighborhood and indoor painting (in cooler weather)
• Clean the court building
• Develop a weekly work plan for the project
• Complete progress reports and document all projects
• Participate in meetings concerning the neighborhood and the Court
• Function as a liaison between the Court and the community, including meeting with members of local block associations and other community groups
• Serve as a back-up for supervision of community service crews within the Court building

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will have supervisory experience, experience in building maintenance, and gardening. Excellent judgment and sensitivity to working with many different types of people. High school diploma and driver’s license required.

Compensation:

Competitive salary commensurate with experience; excellent benefits.

Send Resume To:

Community Crew Supervisor/Horticulture Position, Midtown Community Court, 314 W. 54^th Street, New York, NY 10019. Fax: (212) 586-1144. Email: avargas@courts.state.ny.us

No phone calls please. The Fund for the City of New York is an equal opportunity employer.

For further information, visit www.courtinnovation.org and www.communityjustice.org