TENANT ORGANIZER

POSITION: TENANT ORGANIZER

Housing Counseling Services(HCS) a nonprofit501(c)3 organization founded in 1972 seeks a full-time Tenant Organizer to join its team to provide outreach, training, and technical assistance to low- and moderate-income District tenants.

The organizer works with tenant groups throughout Washington DC supporting them in forming tenant associations, understanding rights, and providing the support necessary to exercise those rights.

The Tenant Organizer will join a collaborative team who work with tenant groups in DC facing bad housing conditions, pressure to move, sale of their property, and other threats to their housing. A primary role of the organizer is to help tenant associations understand and exercise their rights under Districts Tenant Opportunity to Purchas Act (TOPA)which gives tenant associations the first right to purchase when buildings are for sale. The Organizer meets with tenants in their buildings and helps tenants through the process of exercising TOPA rights, ensuring all deadlines are met, collaborating with attorneys, local government agencies, interested purchasers, development consultants and other necessary partners.

JOB RESPONSIBILITES INCLUDE:

• Facilitate tenant meetings 3-4 evenings per week in buildings across the city. Flexible work hours depending on evening meeting schedule.
• Provide technical assistance to tenant associations who seek to understand their rights, form tenant associations, purchase their buildings, partner with developers, improve housing conditions, preserve housing affordability and subsidies.
• Conduct outreach through door knocking and flyering in buildings throughout DC where tenants are at risk for displacement.
• Engage tenants and other partners including property owners, management companies, developers, attorneys, lenders, inspectors, and government officials.

QUALIFICATIONS/RELEVANT EXPERIENCE:

• A demonstrated commitment to affordable housing, social justice, or community education.
• Must be flexible, adaptable, independent/self-directed as well as collaborative/team focused.
• Experience with, or background in, community development, affordable housing, at-risk populations, organizing and/or anti-poverty work, providing direct services to low-income individuals and families.
• Ability to translate technical information into layman’s terms.
• Ability to communicate effectively in group settings with a wide variety of people including tenants from diverse cultures and backgrounds as well as lenders, developers, landlords, attorneys, public officials, and others.
• Comfortable working in conflict situations and being out of the office in neighborhoods throughout DC.
• Knowledge of or lived experience with the issues affecting low-income, immigrant, and communities of color or other historically underserved communities.
• Fluency or near fluency in Spanish or Amharic a plus but other language skills also appreciated.

SALARY/BENEFITS: $65,000-$73,000 depending on experience. Excellent benefits. Flexible hours that require evening meetings at approximately three to four days a week.

HOW TO APPLY: Send resume and cover letter toemployment@housingetc.org

HCS is an equal opportunity employer and affirmatively seeks diversity in its workforce. HCS recruits qualified applicants and advances in employment its employees without regard to race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital or family status, sex, age, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by law.