Youth Volunteer Engagement Specialist

Essential Responsibilities:

• Recruit high school and college age youth to participate in open community volunteer hours at the
• YouthGROW Farm.
• Provide direct support at the YouthGROW Farm serving alongside youth leaders in the program and Farm Manager.
• Mentor and support youth participants in the YouthGROW program to complete programmatic volunteer requirements, including leading youth project-based teams.
• Work with the youth leaders and Farm Manager to develop and coordinate an urban agriculture workshop series.
• Strengthen existing partnerships with local school service-learning programs and develop new partnerships
•  Coordinate volunteer welcome and tracking at weekly farm volunteer hours.
• Plan and coordinate group service-learning days on the YouthGROW Farm.
• Complete a minimum of 750 hours of service, serving through June 24, 2023.
• Attend a minimum of 6 Commonwealth Corps trainings and service events held by MSA post orientation.
• Participate in a minimum of 30 minutes of MSA-related activities each week. This may include filling out timesheets, completing a bi-monthly reflection or check-in, or other MSA-related tasks or activities.

Marginal Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with other Commonwealth Corps members to support greenhouse operations to grow $5,000+ seedlings for the community and school gardens network.
• Collaborate with other Corps members to plan spring community events, including a city-wide Earth Day
• Clean Up, engaging over 1,000 volunteers and our Annual Spring Garden Festival and Plant Sale.
• Support non-volunteer-based youth development programming including monthly retreats.
• Be a part of the greater Commonwealth Corps community, including participating in cross-site learning groups, writing a short profile for the CC newsletter, connecting with other members on our online platforms, and attending optional social/service events.

Worcester, MA

• Stipend of $550 semi-monthly while in service, up to $11,550 minus taxes and withholdings;
• Member assistance program, including unlimited, confidential, 24/7, phone counseling services and up to three free, in-person counseling sessions, plus a lot more;
• Completion award of up to $2,000 upon successful completion of service, minus taxes and withholdings;
• Reimbursement for outside training or professional development opportunities relevant to member’s service and/or goals (Up to $100; Dependent on approval from MSA) *REC will provide an additional $200 for approved trainings
• $80/month produce stipend for local foods available through the REC Mobile Market
• Extensive training from MSA with a diversity, equity and inclusion focus and other professional development opportunities;
• Limited reimbursement for travel to Corps-wide MSA-sponsored activities;
• Internet reimbursement up to $50/month while required to complete some service from home;
• Limited travel reimbursement from their host site for certain service-related travel away from their usual service location, according to that agency's policies;
• Mental Health/Personal Day once per month counting towards 4 hours
• The opportunity for at least 5 days of planned absences (may include holidays, does not count towards hours requirement);

You must be:

●  A Massachusetts resident (see guidelines here) with legal authorization to work in the U.S.
●  18 years of age at minimum (member age range is 18 – 70+ years old)
●  Excited to give back to your community and interested in developing your skills and gaining new professional experiences
●  Able to balance service internship commitments with personal commitments in a sustainable way
●  Are self-motivated, detail oriented, highly organized and reliable
●  Able to manage multiple tasks with competing deadlines
●  Able to travel independently to sites via personal or public transportation
●  Have strong people and communication skills, both written and verbal

It would also be great if you:
●  Are familiar/have experience with the Worcester community, particularly the Bell Hill and Main South neighborhoods
●  Have previous experience collaboratively working or volunteering with people of diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds
●  Speak a language other than English -- multilingual candidates encouraged to apply
●  Have experience growing food
●  Have experience working with youth
●  Are comfortable with online collaboration tools, e.g., shared calendars, email, shared folders/files (Dropbox, Google Drive, Google Apps)