Housing & Donations Coordinator -- Part-Time

IRIS (Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, Inc. www.irisct.org) is a dynamic refugee resettlement agency in New Haven CT. IRIS serves people from all over the world who have fled persecution in their home countries to start new lives and become self-sufficient, contributing members of their new communities. While IRIS has traditionally focused on helping refugees, it is increasingly serving a more diverse immigrant population.

IRIS is looking for a part-time Housing & Donations Coordinator who will lead efforts to collect donated furniture and furnish welcoming homes for newly arriving families and support IRIS’ weekly food pantry and bike distribution program.

General Description

IRIS must ensure that all newly arriving refugees are placed in safe and welcoming homes. Working under the guidance of the Housing & Donations Manager, the Housing & Donations Coordinator will lead the effort to collect furniture donations and furnish apartments for newly arriving families. The H&D Coordinator will coordinate with volunteers and donors to schedule pick up appointments and set up apartments according to IRIS’ high standards. The H&D Coordinator will also help welcome and register patrons at IRIS’ weekly food pantry and oversee IRIS’ Bike distribution program.

The ideal candidate has a variety of skills including ability to move heavy furniture, communication, team leadership, donor relations, and problem solving.

While some administrative tasks could be accomplished remotely, most of the H&D Coordinator’s work must be done at the office or in person in other locations while taking necessary precautions related to COVID-19.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include:

Donations Coordination

• Responds to calls and emails related to donations of household items, schedules pick up appointments and cultivates relationships with donors. 
• Drives to homes (mainly in Greater New Haven) to collect furniture from donors.
• Communicates needs for volunteer help to H&D Manager and IRIS Volunteer Coordinator.
• Helps H&D Manager train and manage interns and volunteers
• Keeps an inventory of all required furniture and household items.
• Ensures that IRIS storage spaces are well organized, in coordination with volunteers
• Manages donations waste removal and coordinates donations to other organizations
• Ensures that IRIS truck and other vehicles are properly managed

Client Services Coordination

• Coordinates the housing preparation, including coordinating volunteer support and transportation, cleaning apartment, furnishing it, and supplying all necessary household goods. Uses R&P Home Supply checklist to ensure all required items are in apartment prior to client’s arrival.
• On occasion,  helps a family who is already established move to a new apartment or delivers furniture to a non R&P clients
• On occasion, removes furniture left behind by when a family moves from their apartment, if determined to be necessary by SDP in accordance with policy
• Completes administrative paperwork necessary for compliance with funders and regulators- i.e. checklists of what items are provided in each apartment set-up.
• Completes case notes for apartment set-ups and any other relevant activities

Food Pantry

• Welcomes patrons to the food pantry, signs them in and registers new patrons
• Maintains Food Pantry Statistics spreadsheet including updating new registrants received at each pantry and new staff referrals on a weekly basis.
• Supports H&D Manager as need to ensure that pantry runs smoothly, that patrons feel welcome, respected and safe, that food is handled safely and that all volunteers stay on task.

Bike Program

• Supervises the Bike Program – The program is typically coordinated by a volunteer. When no volunteer is available, the H&D Coordinator is responsible for all bike program activities.
• Coordinates with the BSBC to arrange for appropriate bicycles and accessories to be provided for program beneficiaries
• Coordinates with interpreters and clients to schedule training sessions and distribution

Requirements

Candidates must have:

• At least 2 years of experience in customer service or equivalent field (examples: retail, sales, reception, food service, donor relations, etc.)
• Ability to lift 100lbs with one other person and a minimum of 50lbs individually
• Driver’s license, insurance, good driving record and ability to drive a 10 foot box truck
• Experience leading small teams and delegating tasks
• Ability to troubleshoot and problem solve, to juggle multiple commitments and shifting schedules, to effectively manage time and to make informed and commonsense decisions
• Excellent spatial perception and ability to efficiently pack and store furniture
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English
• A demonstrated commitment to anti-racism and IRIS' mission
• A basic understanding of refugee resettlement 
• Energy and enthusiasm for the work
• Experience and comfort using basic computing and spreadsheet software (Word, Excel, Google Docs)

Ideal candidates will have:

·        Significant furniture moving experience

·        Experience loading and driving a box truck

·        Experience handling donor requests

·        Experience supervising colleagues or volunteers

·        Experience working at a food pantry

·        Fluency in spoken Spanish

·        Experience working with interpreters

·        Strong understanding of the refugee resettlement process

·        The ability to speak another language, especially Arabic, Dari/Farsi, Pashto, Swahili, Spanish