Supportive Housing Tenant Organizer

SHOUT is a supportive housing tenant- and applicant-driven organization demanding dignity and rights! SHOUT aims to shift the power between tenants and supporting housing providers in order to hold supportive housing providers accountable to the tenants and applicants they are intended to serve and to ensure supportive housing in NYC is truly supportive. SHOUT is the first organizing group in New York City created by and for supportive housing tenants and applicants.

SHOUT is hiring an Organizer to support efforts to 1) connect with supportive housing tenants and applicants across New York City; 2) organize collectively to build power for supportive housing tenants and applicants and 3) make systemic change to ensure that supportive housing is truly supportive and accountable to tenants and applicants.

SHOUT members have diverse backgrounds and experiences, including lived experience of housing instability, homelessness, and mental health systems. We encourage people of diverse backgrounds, including people with direct or lived experience of supportive housing/homelessness, mental health systems, and living in, or working with, communities impacted by these systems, to apply for this position.

Job Responsibilities may include:

Please note that SHOUT is a membership-driven collective and the SHOUT Organizer will be expected to center SHOUT members in all decision-making processes. Further, the SHOUT Organizer will be expected to train, support and/or partner with SHOUT members to conduct all of the listed activities.

Base-building and Leadership Development

• Coordinate outreach to supportive housing tenants and engage in related “base-building” activities;
• Conduct orientation calls with prospective new members;
• Engage in regular “phone-banking” to engage and mobilize existing SHOUT members;
• Coordinate regular political education with SHOUT members, and identify and/or provide trainings to build skills and support leadership across SHOUT’s membership;
• Provide referrals to SHOUT members when needed for individual support and services;

Campaign Development Support:

• Become familiar with SHOUT campaign goals and legislative agenda;
• Plan and implement actions to advance campaigns, including direct actions, rallies, press conferences, social media campaigns, etc.;
• Set up meetings with legislators and policymakers and support SHOUT members to lead lobbying meetings and advocacy events;
• Track the outcomes of these meetings and coordinate next steps (i.e. maintaining communications with policymakers) in collaboration with SHOUT’s legislative/policy committee;
• Note taking at committee meetings (as appropriate);

Media / Messaging

• Work with members to develop public-facing messaging to support campaigns and shift narratives to center supportive housing tenant experiences;
• Maintain SHOUT’s social media and website;
• Support SHOUT members to prepare press statements and engage in media advocacy;
• Use Canva to design accessible and compelling SHOUT materials;

Coordination/Coalition Support

• Provide administrative support for membership and committee meetings (currently held via Zoom);
  • Ensure that there is a membership meeting agenda and that it is responsive to member priorities;
  • Ensure there is a designated facilitator, note-taker, timekeeper
  • Make reminder calls to increase attendance
• Manage phone contact list and EZ texting accounts;
• Mediate conflict that arises in our work and between SHOUT members;
• Build relationships with allied organizations in support of outreach and campaigns and support SHOUT members to represent SHOUT in coalition spaces as needed;

Experience and Qualifications

Candidates should have some, but not necessarily all of the following:

• Experience working in a grassroots membership organization or other type of social justice organization
• At least 2 years’ experience working or volunteering in tenant, community, labor, or other political organizing
• Led and won campaigns at the local, city or state level
• Led successful and high turnout direct actions
• Supervised staff and/or volunteers
• Deep commitment to consensus building and collaborative processes
• Experience with trauma-informed communication and conflict resolution.
• Demonstrated experience and ability to work/organize across diverse identities and lived experiences
• Self-starter, organized, strong attention to detail
• Ability to multitask, prioritize, and complete assignments with minimal supervision in a fluid environment.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Have a working knowledge of the Microsoft Office suite, Canva, and experience using social media platforms to advance social justice campaigns.
• Multilingual and/or proficient in a language other than English
• Lived experience or other personal connection to supportive housing, homelessness, housing instability, or mental health systems.

Studies have shown that women, people of color, and people from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they can perform every job description task. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may not have the exact knowledge, skills, education, and experience listed. If you are interested in applying, we encourage you to think broadly about your background and skill set for the role.

Please note that this position is grant-funded and VOCAL-NY is the fiscal sponsor administering the grant. Therefore, payroll and benefits will be administered by VOCAL-NY.

Multilingual and/or proficient in a language other than English is a plus