Affordable Housing Climate & Resiliency Project Associate

The Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB) is seeking a full time Affordable Housing Climate & Resiliency Project Associate in our Member Services department. The primary function of this role is to work with low-income cooperative homeowners to reduce carbon emissions and energy costs. All candidates must be English/Spanish bilingual.

About UHAB

UHAB empowers low- to moderate-income residents to take control of their housing and enhance communities by creating strong tenant associations and lasting affordable co-ops. Since 1973, UHAB has helped form hundreds of tenant associations and transformed troubled rental buildings into 1,200 affordable co-ops, providing homeownership opportunities for over 25,000 families. With democratic community control at the core of our mission, we work to sustain this thriving affordable housing community for this generation and those to come.

We organize residents to be active participants and decision-makers in shaping their neighborhoods. UHAB’s programs address a full spectrum of affordable housing needs: from building resident power and organizing tenants as community leaders, to developing thousands of units of affordable housing across the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, to making small loans to first-time homeowners, and to preserving affordable co-ops through training, education, and technical assistance. UHAB’s programs address the affordable housing crisis through long-term solutions: developing new affordable co-ops, increasing energy efficiency and introducing renewable technologies, and strengthening housing policy locally and nationwide.

About our Affordable Housing Climate & Resiliency Programs

UHAB’s Affordable Housing Climate & Resiliency Programs, a division of our Member Services department, engages residents in low-to-moderate income co-ops to promote affordability and sustainability through energy efficiency. The Climate & Resiliency Programs team enrolls co-ops in energy efficiency programs, helps co-ops follow energy codes, and guides co-ops through exploring and obtaining renewable and efficient upgrades. Projects will include providing guidance on electrification of heating, cooling, and water systems, assessing feasibility and cost of solar arrays and heating system repair/replacements, collecting and analyzing building survey information, calculating the end of useful life of systems, calculating GHG emissions, and performing cost benefit analysis for converting to beneficial electrification, all with the goal to coordinate strategies to reduce energy usage in buildings.

Position

The Affordable Housing Climate & Resiliency Project Associate at UHAB will support the reduction of carbon emissions in the affordable housing community of building owners and residents. Spanish fluency is required.

Services that the Member Services Project Associate will work on include the New York State Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), funded through the Bilateral Infrastructure Law (BIL). NYS WAP assists income-eligible homeowners by reducing heating and cooling costs through energy-conservation measures, while also addressing health and safety issues in their homes. The aim is to reduce energy consumption while minimizing the impact of higher fuel costs on low-income families now and in the future.

Responsibilities

• Program outreach and collection of income documentation to enroll co-op buildings into the Weatherization Assistance Program
• Database entry; consolidation of database with finance reporting, and maintenance of project files.
• Disseminate information about energy efficiency, and educating co-op building residents on rising energy costs.
• Act as liaison with construction team and tracking building progress
• Grow and expand our services to improve access to energy efficiency, sustainability, and resiliency programs, and oversee delivery of efficiency measures.
• Conduct trainings and seminars on a range of building operations and maintenance topics
• Perform intake and assessment of co-op buildings and make recommendations on implementation plans towards achieving energy reduction goals.
• Conduct outreach and support for renewable energy adoption, including electrification and solar.
• Provide budgets and analysis to determine financial feasibility of capital projects and funding sources.
• Establish and foster relationships with partners, stakeholders, and elected officials to identify and coordinate resources and program offerings.
• Communicate with co-op Board of Directors, shareholders, and managers to deliver information, enroll buildings in programs, publicize new laws, rules, regulations, etc.
• Maintain and develop educational resources and trainings for efficient and resilient communities, and for energy reduction programs.
• Provide individualized guidance to co-ops by phone, email, and in person (when permissible), offering resources, information, and referrals.
• Provide progress reports, and meet regularly with supervisory staff to discuss progress, goals, and areas for improvement.
• Contribute educational articles and features to print and online newsletters and the website.
• Establish, cultivate and maintain trusting relationships with many individuals and groups, including leaders and residents of co-ops, property managers, funders and lenders, and government officials.

Qualifications

• Fluency in oral and written Spanish.
• Self-motivation (as there is a lot of space for new project building), creativity.
• Excellent organizational, multitasking, follow-up, and interpersonal skills, careful attention to detail.
• Ability to communicate complex ideas, orally and in writing, in a clear and accessible way.
• Strong communication skills within a team.
• Ability to work as part of a team or individually in a fast-paced environment that values and requires openness, transparency, and information sharing.
• Ability to establish, cultivate and maintain relationships promoting solidarity, inclusion and respect with many different types of individuals and groups
• Support of equity and justice for diverse populations.
• Strong commitment to social and economic justice and grassroots mobilizing.
• Understanding and interest in cooperative housing and alternative ownership models.
• Interest in serving and supporting low-income residents.
• Interest in project management and learning about and discussing the technical aspects of cooperative living (heating systems, solar panels, legal agreements, etc.).
• Community outreach and organizing experience, or experience with cooperative housing is a plus.
• Leadership development, team building, or conflict resolution skills are a plus.
• Experience working with media and/or elected officials is helpful.
• Experience training adults is helpful.
• At least one year prior experience working as a community or labor organizer, project manager or other related employment in NYC strongly preferred.