IRC New Roots Education Development VISTA  Volunteer in Sacramento

The IRC is one of our church’s community partners, helping to settle and connect new neighbors who are refugees and immigrant visa holders.  If you seek a VISTA Americorps Position, see below!  –Roger

Founded in 1933, The IRC is a leading nonsectarian, voluntary organization providing relief, protection and resettlement services for refugees and victims of oppression or violent conflict.  One aspect of the IRC is to provide assistance to refugees resettling in the US. The IRC has been resettling refugees in Sacramento, California, for over 30 years, providing reception and placement services to newly arrived refugees. The office resettles over 700 refugees per year and provides numerous supplemental programs to assist refugees and IRC clients from their arrival and beyond.

IRC’s New Roots program in Sacramento is designed to assist refugees in reestablishing their ties to the land, celebrate their heritage, and nourish themselves and their neighbors by planting strong roots in their new communities. Through community gardening, nutrition education and small-business farming, New Roots provides refugee families and farmers with the tools and training they need to grow healthy and affordable food and become self-sufficient.

Job Overview/Summary: Through the New Roots Program, the IRC provides refugees and other immigrants with resources and training to improve access to healthy foods and overall nutrition, provide access to community gardens for participants to become more food secure and strengthen their social ties in the community, learn and practice food safety and farm safety guidelines and learn about small business farming. The AmeriCorps VISTA member will be responsible for helping to develop, test and modify training curricula across our program that includes topics such as food access and food security, nutrition, and farm safety and food safety. This position will be working on content for all ages of participants, from elementary school aged children, to adults from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds.

Major Responsibilities:

Education Curricula Development

·        Develop food safety educational curricula and content for groups of farmers speaking different languages (primarily Arabic, Nepali and Mien). Work closely with partners and consultants to design and create the content.

·        Support the development of evaluation and assessment tools to measure the impact of the educational curricula that is developed and help administer evaluations and assessments to participating clients.

·        Develop nutrition education curricula for use in classrooms for elementary school aged children together with our food bank partner (pending funding)

·        Coordinate with the local food bank to develop culturally appropriate recipes for school aged children and their families using fresh produce and develop nutrition education outreach materials to use at Kids Farmers Markets (pending funding)

·        Modify and revise food access curriculum and nutrition education curriculum for use during cultural orientation and for adult education and ESL classes in the community

·        Develop food access, food security and nutrition curricula for participants in the community garden programs and clients being resettled by the IRC

Outreach Activities

·        Market program activities through community presentations, tabling at community events, and other forms of outreach and engagement

·        Build and maintain relationships with various university, government, and community partners. Provide presentations and program information;

·        Get to know local coalitions and service providers working in food safety and food security; participate in coalition events and trainings;

·        As capacity allows, will develop outreach materials for use across programs.

Other Duties

·        Participate in staff development, meetings, and fully engage as a member of the New Roots team and the IRC Sacramento office;

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to:  New Roots Program Manager
Position directly supervises:  None; Indirect Reporting:  N/A
Other Internal and/or external contacts: Community organizations including Food Banks and Adult Education providers

Job Requirements:

·        Undergraduate degree in Agriculture/Horticulture, Food Sciences, Public Health, Nutrition, International or Community Development, Communications, or related field experience; Demonstrated experience delivering and/or facilitating educational workshops or trainings to a wide variety of participants

·        Experience working across cultural groups and participants with limited English language abilities.

·        Demonstrated understanding of gardening skills and community garden operations; marketing and communications skills is desired;

·        Strong organizational skills including: multi-tasking, prioritizing, planning, and effective time management

·        Strong interpersonal skills; ability to get along with a team and supervise volunteers; ability to teach, train, and engage wide audiences; Public speaking experience;

·        Experience working with graphic design tools to create public facing documents is an added advantage

·        Strong communication skills, ability to communicate with limited-English speakers and community partners;

·        Fluency in written and spoken English, with bilingual ability preferred

·        Vehicle required with valid driver s license and insurance;

Working Environment:  

This position is located in the Sacramento, CA office, with frequent travel to community sites, the IRC farm in West Sacramento and other partner’s offices.

How to Apply:

Please apply for this position through the AmeriCorps VISTA website below. Note: You will need to register first on the website before applying

https://my.americorps.gov/mp/listing/viewListing.do?id=91698&fromSearch=true