Mutual Aid Community Organizer

We’re a Black led grassroots organization facilitating resident-led community development. Our mission is to co-create a cooperative community in East Baltimore owned by Black and Brown people. We seek to build this cooperative community through the reclamation of land, healing, reconnecting and building a base of community power.

VOLAR Values:

Healing and Wellness, Cooperative Ownership, Justiceand Equity, SharedLeadership and Participatory Democracy, Power, Love, Transformational Learning

Scope of work:

VOLAR is seekinga Community Organizer to lead our grassroots food mutual aid in East Baltimore, MD with the supportof the committees of VOLAR.

Areas of Work

The major areas of work for the Community Organizer include:

Coordinate Mutual Aid

• Steward/Coordinate regular food distribution to neighbors
• Secure reliable and quality food supply for distribution
• Develop and maintain relationship with food supplier(s)
• Create and support a Mutual Aid Committee of neighborhood volunteers
• Train and support neighborhood volunteers in non-violent communication and various food distribution roles

Job areasto support:

• Regularly assist Data Organizerin updating VOLAR’sGoogle and Nationbuilder databases
• With the support of Neighborhood Listeners and other organizers, develop relationships with neighborhood organizations to support VOLAR Food Mutual Aid and other VOLAR programs
• Create opportunities for collaboration with relevant neighborhood and city organizations to grow VOLAR’s Food Mutual Aid

Education/Training:

• Required: Minimum of 2 years of experience organizing with community organizations or neighborhood associations focused on community development, affordable housing, and/or related issues.
• Preferred: Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work with a focus on organizing or related field
• Preferred: Experience working with mission– focused organizations

Required experience/qualifications:

• Lived or worked in Baltimore area communities for at least one year
• Commitment to VOLAR’s mission around building community rooted in healing, wellness, and cooperation
• Strong project management and administrative skills; is detail-oriented, collaborative and a creative problem solver.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; is able to work with a range of stakeholders including residents, community members, and partners.
• Computer literacy and comfort working with Google Drive, Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Quickbooks.
• Ability to work some evenings and weekend hours
• Ability to work in-person for meetings, site visits, community events
• Reliable transportation
• Time Management
• Oral communication on skills
• Written communication skills
• Facilitation skills
• Ability to practice effective interpersonal skills with compassion and honesty
• Ability to understand or identify with the experience of poor and working class people
• Willingness to engage oneselfand engage with VOLAR’s shared leadership model in honest, constructive, mindful, and compassionate self-reflection and self-criticism

Preferred experience/qualifications:

• Non-violent communication skills
• In-person and telephone Etiquette
• Attention to Detail
• Experience and/or ability to approach problem-solving, and crisis intervention from a “love” perspective (find ways to resolve issues without calling police/agencies when possible)
• Creativity and sense of humor
• Working knowledge of and ability to facilitate conversations on critical race theory and intersectionality as it pertains to diversity, inclusion, and racial, class, and gender equity
• Experience in anti-racism/anti-oppression trainings

• Knowledge of Baltimore communities, history, issues and organizations. [Baltimore residents are strongly encouraged to apply and given strong preference.]

Accountability & Support Process

This Mutual Aid Community Organizer will work in collaboration with various committees of VOLAR and VOLAR members, general members, and the Social Housing Organizer, Own Our Hood Organizer, and Data Organizer to fulfill their roles and responsibilities. The Community Organizer will participate in a regular and consistent process of accountability and receive direct support from a small team of VOLAR members.This Team will regularly meet with the Community Organizer for check-ins. These weekly check-ins are designed to assign tasks and roles, offer support to the Community Organizer, promote communication and synergy between committees, address any challenges that may arise, provide evaluation and debrief events and projects , and identifyareas of strengths and growth.

Benefits

This is a contractual position with a range of $20-$25/hr dependent on experience; up to 20 hrs per week.