Description
Housing Conservation Coordinators, Inc. (HCC) is a 45 year-old community-based, not-for-profit organization founded to preserve and advocate for the creation and preservation of safe, decent and affordable housing in the Clinton/ Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan. Each year, HCC staff assists more than 3,000 tenants with housing-related problems through our four core programs: legal representation, tenant organizing, weatherization assistance, and community organizing.
The tenant organizer works with individual tenants and tenant associations to obtain necessary repairs, upgrade building services, stop landlord harassment, resolve building-wide complaints and/or otherwise assert the rights of tenants. The specific duties are outlined below:
Full Time/Program – Reports to the Director of Organizing
1) Works alone or with other staff as appropriate to organize tenants in tenant-run, privately-owned and/or City owned buildings to help create a self-sustaining tenant group or organization, and improve/secure stable conditions for the tenants in occupancy.
The organizing process includes, but is not limited to:
- Doing extensive door-knocking and outreach in targeted buildings
- Having one-on-one conversations with tenants
- Intake of individual and building-wide complaints
- Facilitating tenant meetings
- Facilitating a process of leadership development within tenant groups
- Conduct necessary research on target buildings
- Scheduling and attendance at building-wide meetings
- Dissemination of tenants’ rights information
- Landlord/tenant negotiations and correspondence
- Housing court advocacy
- Community and municipal advocacy where appropriate
- Coalition outreach
- Rent strike related activities
- 7A advocacy
2) Lead and facilitate the work of HCC within the Stabilizing New York City Coalition. The organizer will maintain a working list of active and target buildings owned by Predatory Equity landlords, work to organize strong tenants associations in PE buildings with the goal of bringing tenants in buildings owned by the same landlord together in a larger organized group. The organizer will actively work to develop tenant leadership in PE buildings.
3) Represent the organization in other coalition and campaign activities as needed. Take an active role in turning out WSNA members and tenant leaders that have a relationship to the organization through building organizing to all relevant actions, events, hearings and press conferences as necessary. Ensure that the organization takes a leadership role in necessary strategy conversations and decision-making.
4) Attend on-going appropriate trainings, including but not limited to welfare advocacy, HRA Assistance, Rent Stabilization Code, foreign languages appropriate to client populations, advocacy and application assistance for housing, welfare, rent arrears, food stamps, social security for eligible clients (as it relates to housing), shelter advocacy for the dispossessed and housing court assistance for individual tenants and families.
5) When necessary, advocate on behalf of individual tenants on cases arranged through building organizing or component meetings. Such advocacy may include advocacy and application assistance for housing, welfare, rent arrears, SNAP (food stamps), social security for eligible clients (as it relates to housing), shelter advocacy for the dispossessed and housing court assistance for individual tenants and families.
6) Work with the Component Director and senior management to develop reasonable programmatic goals for tenant organizing, and client assistance and to ensure that the goals for each contract are met.
7) Contract Reporting: Complete all necessary work for contract agencies and/or foundations, including maintaining accurate and weekly database entries, including but not limited to client notes, membership updates, individual and group meetings held, and meeting attendees.
8) Assist with Community Organizing Activities: Work with Community Organizer and Director of Organizing on community organizing activities such as annual events, meetings, campaigns and actions. This can include outreach and turnout for events and actions (emails, email blasts, phone-banking and flyering); preparing for meetings (developing agendas, working with leaders to facilitate, doing appropriate research); developing and executing campaign strategy; set-up and clean-up for events; working with media; and working with members, local leadership and elected officials and their staff.
The Tenant Organizer will take an active role in the planning and execution of the West Side Tenants Conference and assist in organizing conference workshops, turnout and publicity, and any relevant logistics.
9) Conduct intake as needed on a rotating basis with other members of the legal and organizing component to advise and assist residents with housing-related problems during times when the Intake Coordinator is unavailable.
Work Hours:
The standard work hours for a tenant organizer are between the hours of 9:30 am and 7:30 pm, except where deadlines, workload and/or tenant meetings require a modification of those hours.
Benefits
Comprehensive Health and Dental Benefits. Company pension plan, vesting after 6 months employment.
Level of Language Proficiency
Language and Additional Requirements
There is a strong preference for a Spanish speaking person who has good public speaking, writing and computer skills.
Professional Level: None specified
Minimum Education Required: No requirement
How To Apply
Send cover letter, resume and a writing sample by April 15th, 2018 to Jon Furlong at jfurlong@hcc-nyc.org
Insert “Tenant Organizer Applicant” in the subject field.
HCC is an equal opportunity employer and values a diverse workforce. Women, people of color, gays and lesbians, transgender people, veterans and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
