Tenant Organizer

TENANT ORGANIZER

POSITION: TENANT ORGANIZER

Housing Counseling Services(HCS) a nonprofit501(c)3 organization founded in 1972 seeks a full-time Tenant Organizer to join its team to provide outreach, training, and technical assistance to low- and moderate-income District tenants.

The organizer works with tenant groups throughout Washington DC supporting them in forming tenant associations, understanding rights, and providing the support necessary to exercise those rights.

The Tenant Organizer will join a collaborative team who work with tenant groups in DC facing bad housing conditions, pressure to move, sale of their property, and other threats to their housing. A primary role of the organizer is to help tenant associations understand and exercise their rights under District’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchas Act (TOPA)which gives tenant associations the first right to purchase when buildings are for sale. The Organizer meets with tenants in their buildings and helps tenants through the process of exercising TOPA rights, ensuring all deadlines are met, collaborating with attorneys, local government agencies, interested purchasers, development consultants and other necessary partners.

JOB RESPONSIBILITES INCLUDE:

• Facilitate tenant meetings 3-4 evenings per week in buildings across the city. Flexible work hours depending on evening meeting schedule.
• Provide technical assistance to tenant associations who seek to understand their rights, form tenant associations, purchase their buildings, partner with developers, improve housing conditions, preserve housing affordability and subsidies.
• Conduct outreach through door knocking and flyering in buildings throughout DC where tenants are at risk for displacement.
• Engage tenants and other partners including property owners, management companies, developers, attorneys, lenders, inspectors, and government officials.

QUALIFICATIONS/RELEVANT EXPERIENCE:

• A demonstrated commitment to affordable housing, social justice, or community education.
• Must be flexible, adaptable, independent/self-directed as well as collaborative/team focused.
• Experience with, or background in, community development, affordable housing, at-risk populations, organizing and/or anti-poverty work, providing direct services to low-income individuals and families.
• Ability to translate technical information into layman's terms.
• Ability to communicate effectively in group settings with a wide variety of people including tenants from diverse cultures and backgrounds as well as lenders, developers, landlords, attorneys, public officials, and others.
• Comfortable working in conflict situations and being out of the office in neighborhoods throughout DC.
• Knowledge of or lived experience with the issues affecting low-income, immigrant, and communities of color or other historically underserved communities.
• Fluency or near fluency in Spanish or Amharic a plus but other language skills also appreciated.

SALARY/BENEFITS: $65,000-$73,000 depending on experience. Excellent benefits. Flexible hours that require evening meetings at approximately three to four days a week.

HOW TO APPLY: Send resume and cover letter to employment@housingetc.org

HCS is an equal opportunity employer and affirmatively seeks diversity in its workforce. HCS recruits qualified applicants and advances in employment its employees without regard to race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital or family status, sex, age, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by law.

Housing Counseling Services, Inc. Current Benefits

Sick and Annual Leave which both initially accrue at 4.5 hours per pay period (annual leave accrual increases after some time at HCS)

Birthday Holiday (taken on the day of your birthday OR must be used within 30 days of your birthday)

4% (of salary) contribution to a Lincoln Alliance 403(b) tax deferred plan after 6 months of service;

Long-Term Disability and Life & AD&D Insurance Policies with Lincoln Financial Group (no cost to the employee)

Paid Holidays (following DC government holiday schedule)

Voluntary Benefits, vision, term life insurance, short-term disability, critical illness, group accident and hospital indemnity these benefits are paid 100% by the employee.

HCS CONTRIBUTION FOR HEALTH INSURANCE

HCS has Reference Health Plan – Care First BCBS Blue Choice HAS/HRA Bronze Silver $6,100 that is the basis for the HCS contribution towards health insurance coverage for employee’s ONLY. HCS will pay 100% of the employee’s coverage for this Reference Plan and this same dollar amount may be applied to any of the 60+ BCBS health plans you may select on the DC Health Exchange. As the cost of coverage is different for every employee (as it is based on age). You may select individual coverage as well as coverage for your eligible family members, you will be responsible for paying for your family member’s health insurance. The HCS contribution remains the same whether you select individual or family coverage. HCS cannot contribute to the cost of employee health insurance that is not part of the HCS account through the DC Health Exchange.

HCS CONTRIBUTION FOR DENTAL

HCS offers dental and vision coverage (vision is voluntary), through Lincoln Financial Group, HCS will contribute 100% of employee’s individual coverage ONLY for the LFG dental plan. If you choose not to use our health insurance, you may apply the full amount of the HCS health insurance contribution towards family coverage for dental insurance only.

Fluency or near fluency in Spanish and Amharic a plus but other language skills also appreciated.