Position Available: Homeownership Counselor (posted July 14, 2010)
Organization Description
Grow Brooklyn is the non-profit affiliate of Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union, with the mission to provide technical services that help eliminate the most common obstacles to accessing financial services in low income neighborhoods of Brooklyn, ultimately enabling families to build assets and secure their economic footing. Working closely with the credit union, Grow Brooklyn services target the neighborhoods of Bushwick and Bedford Stuyvesant, both among the most-impacted by the foreclosure crisis and most under-banked neighborhoods in New York City.
Position Summary
The Homeownership Counselor’s goal is to provide potential community homebuyers with the critical skills, knowledge, and confidence to buy and maintain a home. The Homeownership Counselor provides an eight hour NeighborWorks® training course to help prospective, mostly low-income, home buyers determine if homeownership is a viable option for them. The Homeownership Counselor also provides one-on-one counseling sessions to those individuals who pursue homeownership in order to help them make the best choices, access available support, qualify for loans, and ensure the long-term viability of the home purchase. The Homeownership Program teaches skills to access and use the commercial systems already in place within the community whenever possible. The Homeownership Counselor works with a part-time assistant who provides administrative support.
Tasks and Responsibilities
Organize Homeownership Education workshops, including management of guest speakers and keeping curriculum relevant to current real estate trends
Recruit participants
Set up pre- and post-purchase individual counseling sessions
Develop individualized goals and plans of action with members
Organize logistics of meeting place
Prepare agendas, handouts and working materials
Schedule and notify community of workshop schedule on a quarterly basis
Become familiar with local financing programs and maintain positive relations with lenders
Evaluate the meetings and members’ progress
Determine pre-application eligibility
Monitor expenses against budget
Maintain client and program files, including electronic tracking systems
Maintain and implement reporting systems
Work collegially with Grow Brooklyn’s Foreclosure Prevention Counselor
Requirements
· Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree in relevant field preferred
Consumer lending and financial programs, teaching, counseling and/or mentoring experience
Adult training experience
Successful skills in working with people of diverse backgrounds
Experience with Home Counselor Online or Counselor Max programs a major plus
Community-based nonprofit experience
Ability to work independently as well as work as part of a team
Attentive to details
Spanish language skills
Strong oral and written communication skills
Strong computer skills (Office, internet research, statistics)
A high degree of self-motivation, initiative, dedication and a commitment to the community development mission of Brooklyn Cooperative/Grow Brooklyn.
To Apply:
Please submit resume and cover letter ASAP to:
Samira Rajan, CEO
Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union
1474 Myrtle Avenue
Brooklyn, MA 11237
Timeline:
Applications are requested ASAP and will be reviewed ASAP through August 15, with interviews held on a rolling basis. Position will commence soon after August 15.
The New York State Rural Housing Coalition, Inc. hereby invites technical assistance and training consultants to submit statements of qualification to provide technical assistance and/or training services to community development and housing entities within the State of New York. The Rural Housing Coalition seeks experienced technical assistance and training providers to join a team of subcontractor consultants to assist in improving the performance of local housing and community development practitioners, particularly in rural areas of the State.
The Rural Housing Coalition seeks technical assistance providers with a wide array of expertise, including but not limited to: non-profit management; board development, legal services; construction management and design services; development finance; environmental hazard mitigation; real property management; accounting/bookkeeping and financial management; and grant writing and proposal packaging. Technical assistance and training providers selected for inclusion in the Rural Housing Coalition’s team of subcontractors will enter into a master contract with the Coalition, with individual work assignments issued on a task order basis. Task order assignments will be made on the basis of the closest match of required expertise of the subcontractor consultant and the specific needs of the client, such as: years of experience, timeframe product or service must be completed, availability of consultant to complete the provision of services within the specified time frame, technical resources, and familiarity with the subject.
Respondents to this Request for Qualifications are asked to provide the following information:
1) Letter of interest in participating in the Rural Housing Coalition’s technical assistance and training program, including hourly and daily reimbursement rate that will be charged (including separate charges for individual staff, where applicable);
2) Corporate resume detailing work experience relative to technical assistance and/or training, particularly in the community development setting, including representative examples of clientele served (with particular emphasis on community development-type clients);
3) Individual resumes of staff that will be working on assignments issued by the Coalition, including years of experience in the field;
4) A statement detailing the geographic area within New York State to be served (statewide, or if regional, detail which areas of the State);
5) A statement detailing that hourly and daily rates to be charged are consistent with rates charged to other clients, particularly on projects funded by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
6) A minimum of 3 references.
Please submit the above requested information to the attention of Mr. Blair Sebastian, Executive Director at the above address, and by electronic mail to: rhc@ruralhousing.org.
This Request for Qualifications is open-ended, there is no deadline for submission. The Rural Housing Coalition reserves the right to reject any or all proposals submitted by responders. Acceptance of a proposer is not a guarantee of work assignments being issued. Minority and Women owned firms are encouraged to apply.
