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Family & Community Advocate

The Family and Community Advocate serves to provide program families and the greater 21217 community with the resources, connections, and opportunities needed to thrive. The FCA develops meaningful relationships with the community, to ensure their voices and needs are heard. They work in collaboration with the program and development teams to design and implement community-wide fairs, trainings, and initiatives that strengthen the resources SFNC is able to offer its community. Overall, the FCA serves as the main liaison between program families and program staff, and aims to offer similar support systems to the greater 21217 community.

This position reports to the Program Director. It is full time, 40 hours/week, 10:00am-6:00pm during the school year; 9:00am-5:00pm during summer months; with occasional weekends and some evening meetings. The duties and responsibilities of this position include but are not limited to the below. (The position can be virtual as needed during emergency situations such as COVID-19 with approval.)

Job Responsibilities

Parent/Caregiver/Senior Engagement:

• Develop and maintain meaningful relationships with all participating program families and caregivers. Leverage relationships to create a safe, open channel of communication where families can share their needs, goals, and other updates.
• Plan and implement monthly “Family Engagement Nights'' which connect program guardians to development/support resources (ex. Financial assistance, career resource fair, IT training, etc.). Utilize partners when available to implement these programs.
• Complete bi-monthly “home visits” with all participating program families during the academic year (October-May), to ensure individual needs are being heard and supported.
• Takes lead on all parent/guardian communication regarding program updates, scheduling, and needs.
• Engages guardians in volunteering for the Center as part of their requirement for their student’s enrollment. Work in partnership with the Volunteer Coordinator to increase parent/guardian volunteer hours by 25% annually.
• Conducts meetings at school, Center, or in homes for parents who request help with conferences, completing specific forms for school, specific resources, or our community center programming (ex. Diagnosing need for IEP)
• Develops and leads a Parent Committee to collect program feedback, establish leadership opportunities for program parents/caregivers, and collaborate on program events and fundraisers. Assists parents in other Center committees (events, fundraising, education steering committee, etc.).
• Maintains and tracks all communication with program guardians, including noting immediate needs, next steps, and actionable outcomes.
• Assemble an Emergency Resource Guide with steps to assist families in need for emergencies that could come up for easy access for all staff to assist if needed. (Eviction, homelessness, etc.. )
• Designs and distributes program guardian pre/post surveys, 2x a year in alignment with youth programming
• Creates and distributes bi-monthly family engagement newsletter in collaboration with Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Community Resource Development:

• Assists Community Engagement Manager with development of and recruitment for SFNC’s annual Resource Festival and semi-monthly Community Stoop Nights
• Increases events and opportunities to connect the greater 21217 community to necessary resources, outside of the program (ex. Community job fair)
• Worked with Marketing and Communications Coordinator and Community Engagement Manager to develop and expand upon community resource bank to be found on the SFNC website. Updates regularly.
• In partnership with the development team, seeks and applies for opportunities for grant funding to further develop resources offered to the greater 21217 community
• When appropriate, leads peer to peer trainings that will further develop SFNC staff’s ability to quickly connect community with available resources

In-Program Support:

• Provides in program support Mon-Thurs 2:00-6:00pm, during the academic year and 10am-4pm during the summer programming.
• Assists with greeting youth/parents at the door, ensuring sign in. Helps ensure attendance is tracked accurately.
• Ensures all needed documents (document release, transportation waive, etc.) are collected from program families in a timely manner
• Assists with daily dismissal; talking with parents/caregivers at dismissal
• Assists Program Director as assigned with attendance tracking, attendance interventions, student behavior management, and student survey/diagnostic completion.
• Serves as a substitute teacher or assists in small groups as necessary.
• Serves as supervisor/mentor to at least one high school intern, working with them to provide meaningful daily tasks and assignments.
• Assists with grant reporting as assigned.

Additional Duties:

• With support of Program Director and using Surveys--surveys parents, students, and teachers involved in each program; share results with staff for publication and grant tracking; grant reporting.
• Ensures completion of Giving Tree family needs with as much detail as possible starting at enrollment. Reaches out to parents/caregivers with follow up; while the Mission Advancement Director (Development) matches donors with families. Acquires information from families and assists with distribution.
• Attends and assists all major org-wide events and fundraisers
• Represents the organization at community events & meetings on a rotating basis with other staff and Board Members.
• Writes articles for organizational newsletter and website; one weekly social media post and email to parents/caregivers; and provides bimonthly reports to the Board of Directors and Operations & Program Director for the Education Steering Committee.
• Weekly attendance at staff meetings; quarterly steering committee meetings; yearly attendance to annual strategic planning meetings/retreat and attends professional development workshops.
• Hosting Senior Socials and enrichment services
• Additional duties as needed/required.

Qualifications

• Experience in a non-profit environment or education industry is a plus
• Four year college degree, with human/social services and/or behavioral sciences focus preferred
• Three years of relevant experience
• Grant reporting knowledge
• Knowledge of Baltimore City School systems, and IEP/504 Plans
• Excellent computer and software skills, especially Google Suite and Microsoft Office
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work effectively both with and without supervision
• Highly detail-oriented, organized and analytical
• Ability to multi-task and successfully prioritize workload
• Excellent problem solving and decision-making skills
• Strong story development & storytelling skills
• Ability to foster a cooperative work environment
• Strong goal setting skills and goal achievement history
• Must be friendly, enthusiastic, and have a positive attitude

Salary starts at $40K-$46K year with 100% Health Insurance benefits package valued at over $15,500 between health benefits, vacation, holiday & sick time and, a 403B retirement plan is available for enrollment. Another benefit is the perk of flexible and remote scheduling.