Careers

Salary: $55,000

Apply: Email resume and cover letter to Mike Tritto - mtritto@backtobasicsministries.org  

Job Location: 938 Genesee Street, Buffalo, NY 14211

Reports to: Community Engagement Core Coordinator

General Job Description:

Community Navigators serve as the primary field representatives and direct points of contact with residents in the neighborhoods bounded by Fillmore Avenue, Broadway, Jefferson, and Genesee Street on Buffalo's East Side. This community engagement work is a significant dimension of the Upper Broadway Neighborhood Transformation Project, a community development collaborative initiative in which Back to Basics Outreach Ministries partners with the University of Buffalo Center for Urban Studies, the Buffalo Center for Health Equity, King Urban Life Center, Broadway Fillmore Neighborhood Housing Services, and others.  Navigators operate at the household and block levels and maintain consistent presence within the everyday life of the neighborhood. Navigators will be cross-trained in health, social welfare and housing dimensions of the project to identify resident needs, aspirations and provide basic guidance and referrals, and accurately relay nuanced information to the project team. Their work generates critical, on-the-ground intelligence that informs neighborhood visioning, planning, program development, and the overall transformation process. Navigators will engage residents regularly about their vision for their community's future.  Navigators will document everyday life in the neighborhood, observing social physical and economic conditions that shape daily life.  They will observe how the neighborhood is organized and how it functions, identifying leadership networks, the local economy in the neighborhood, social relations between people from different backgrounds, and perspectives from different ethnic, gender, income level, and age groups.  Most significantly, the navigators will not only identify needs, but also gain insight into the resident’s hopes and aspirations. 

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Engages directly with census tract 166 residents to learn about needs, aspirations and current conditions of the neighborhoods.
• Conducts door-to-door surveys of residents to gather data on the needs and goals of residents in the areas of housing, health, employment, community safety, resources of children and teens, and community improvements.
• Serves as an ambassador to residents, explaining the purpose and scope of the Upper Broadway-Fillmore Neighborhood Transformation Project.
• Gathers and distributes information about opportunities for residents in the neighborhood both from within the Project and other sources beneficial to residents.
• Assists residents in completing applications for specific program benefits like housing repairs, employment training, and youth program registration.
• Attends community events both offered by the Project, and from other providers in the community to listen for opportunities and resident concerns to report findings to the Community Engagement Coordinator.
• Keeps legible notes and organized documents form surveys and community events and conversations and reports back to the Community Engagement Coordinator.
• Attends all staff orientations and training.

Qualifications for This Job:

• High School diploma or equivalent, and preferred, post-secondary educational credits.
• Friendly, outgoing, patient temperament to confidently interact authentically with the public.
• A deep understanding of the culture, rhythms, and social dynamics of underdeveloped neighborhoods.
• Working and personal experience working with residents of underdeveloped neighborhoods with cultural  competence.
• Skills for building authentic relationships with a broad spectrum of residents—including gang-involved  individuals, faith communities, recent immigrants, long-term working-class residents, and middle-class  residents.
• Reliable transportation to the neighborhoods of census tract 166 (Fillmore to Broadway to Jefferson to  Genesee).
• Physical stamina to work on one's feet, door to door, many days per week.

Key Competencies:

• Strong interpersonal speaking skills.
• Strong intercultural skills and ability to work with people from across the social class spectrum.
• Strong active listening skills.
• Proven work ethic to operate effectively both independently and as a supportive, reliable team member
• Healthy humility and grounded communication approach to put residents' needs first.
• Effective time management skills to meet deadlines on time and maintain appointments.
• Ability to graciously receive feedback from supervisors and effectively make use of it to adapt.
• Skills of de-escalation, diplomacy, and peacemaking to deal with conflicts amongst neighbors.

Apply

Interested candidates should email resume and cover letter to Mike Tritto - mtritto@backtobasicsministries.org