About this organization

Communities Resist Inc., a project of Southside United HDFC (CoRe), seeks a tenant organizer to join a team combating gentrification, displacement, social disenfranchisement, and structural injustice through tenant organizing in North Brooklyn.

CoRe is a legal services organization for housing and community justice steeped in the 50-year tradition of community lawyering in North and East Brooklyn. In these communities, we have spent years working together with neighborhood organizations and organizers in representing hundreds of tenants and tenant association. Our representation has aimed to assist them with enforcing their right to social citizenship by struggling, resisting, and enduring against any attempts to deny working communities, largely of color, their place and their agency. CoRe has arisen out of a collective effort of these communities to ensure that this unique model continue unchanged.

The community outreach and intake specialist will work in collaboration with this extraordinary coalition of neighborhood organizations to help preserve and expand affordable housing for lower income residents of those areas—in the face of rapid gentrification and tenant displacement throughout their neighborhoods. The work involves forming and then leading teams of low-income tenant associations confronting landlords harassing low-income residents and seeking to vacate buildings; individuals and families facing eviction; low-income tenant co-ops seeking to reinforce and sustain themselves; community institutions facing closures or adverse actions due to extraordinary market pressures and neighborhood displacement; low-income tenants in fair housing litigation; as well as community groups involved in struggles against pervasive housing discrimination, neighborhood segregation, and other issues critically affecting the future of their communities.

This position will involve forming and organizing tenant associations, and assisting individual tenants, in Brooklyn suffering from harassment and displacement particularly due to prior/imminent local rezonings—especially, and initially, in the communities of Williamsburg, Bushwick, Greenpoint, East New York, Ridgewood, and Bedford-Stuyvesant.

The community outreach and intake specialist will work to stop such pernicious practices in these communities by: providing advice and legal services to help improve conditions in their homes and buildings; conducting Know-Your-Rights housing workshops, clinics, and other educational efforts to ensure that tenants are aware of their protections under housing laws; participating in neighborhood advocacy efforts to stop tenant harassment, displacement, and residential segregation; participating in citywide dialogue around these issues; and contributing to CoRe’s efforts to shape our housing advocacy and legal strategy so as to effectively respond to the ongoing needs of our communities.

Candidates must have relevant interest, experience, skills and commitment. Fluency in Spanish is required. So are willingness, desire, and ability to door-knock and canvass and to attend frequent evening tenant association and community meetings throughout the year.

Applicants must have the following qualifications:

• Fluency in Spanish.
• Ability to door-knock and canvass in the neighborhoods CoRe serves throughout the year.
• Ability to attend frequent evening tenant associations and community meetings throughout the year.
• Ability to work independently.
• Experience, including internships, in a relevant public interest setting.
• Cultural competence demonstrated through present or past residence in, or employment at organizations serving, our clients’ communities
• Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate with individuals from diverse backgrounds and local organizations.
• Experience working with low-income tenant groups, community organizations and/or coalitions
• Excellent writing and advocacy skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Effective communication skills, including the ability to work with people in desperate crisis
• Ability to work independently with strong motivation, to manage a high case load, track case data, meet deadlines, and to be flexible
• Computer proficiency sufficient to independently review and generate materials relevant to the position as well as track client information in our database, prepare reports for grantors, attend meetings, and perform tasks related to the work such as timekeeping and case notes.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate with individuals from diverse backgrounds and local organizations.

Applicants possessing the following qualifications will be viewed favorably:

• Fluency in another, additional language that members of the communities speak such as Polish or Bangla.
• Experience in housing law practice.
• Demonstrated ability to publish articles effectively advocating on behalf of clients or raising community issues.

CoRe is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be afforded equal employment opportunities without discrimination because of race, religion/creed, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, military status, predisposing genetic characteristics, victim of domestic violence status or marital status. Salary will be commensurate with experience; excellent health and other benefits will be provided.

Details at a glance

• On-site Location
• Full Time Schedule

Level of Language Proficiency

Fluency in Spanish required.

How to Apply

glouis@communitiesresist.org

To apply, forward a cover letter with your resume to:

Gregory Louis, General Counsel, Communities Resist Inc.

E-mail:glouis@communitiesresist.org

Location

109 South 5th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249