We are a team of tenants, organizers, attorneys, and paralegals working to create a future where all Austinites have access to healthy and affordable housing.
We are always looking for talented and passionate folks to join our team.
Check back regularly for updated opportunities to help us achieve our mission.
Community organizer position
VISTA Affordable Housing Preservation Project (VAHPP)
These positions would be funded through the VISTA program and all compensation is through that program. Living allowances can be found here.
We are welcoming anyone who is interested in this position to send us a resume and brief cover letter to jobs@bastaaustin.org. We are looking to fill this position ASAP – please don’t delay if you are interested.
ABOUT VAHPP
The duties and activities of the VAHPP Community Organizer with BASTA include the following:
Visit Project-based Section 8 U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) – assisted properties and increase tenants’ knowledge of their rights, responsibilities, and options for preserving their homes and improving their communities.
Help residents organize to ensure that their property owners renew their Section 8 contracts to retain affordable housing for their community.
Assist residents in requesting repairs, meeting with property managers, and reporting substandard conditions, as needed, to Code enforcement. Monitor responsiveness and follow up as needed.
Develop additional, creative strategies and actions, as needed, to get property owners to make repairs, needed improvements.
Work with attorneys and to identify properties where litigation could be a useful strategy to effectuate repairs and help communicate with residents so that they can remain actively engaged in any initiated litigation.
Document outreach activities and compile data to track outcomes and efficacy of the project.
All other duties assigned
QUALIFICATIONS:
Required
Bilingual in English and Spanish.
1+ years outreach and community engagement experience.
Dedication to economic, gender, social and racial justice.
Ability to effectively communicate with a wide range of people, including residents and property owners.
Strong organizational skills.
Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
Creative problem-solver.
Willingness to work a flexible schedule including some evenings and weekends.
Preferred
Knowledge of housing issues and/or landlord-tenant law.
Personal experience with low-income housing.
Experience leading workshops and trainings.
Experience working with both conventional and social media.
Computer proficiency in Google Drive, Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and willingness to develop additional skills. Knowledge of GIS a plus.
Additional Information:
At-Risk Section 8 Properties
About Equal Justice Works
National Alliance of HUD Tenants (NAHT)
language justice volunteers
BASTA Language Justice Initiative
We work with linguistically diverse tenants and want to be able to communicate with everyone. We have a commitment to language justice and strive to provide interpretation at every meeting in the languages of all participants. This can get expensive, though, so to make this sustainable, we need volunteers to help with translation and interpretation.
DETAILS
Assistance is needed in translating flyers, educational materials and media projects, interpreting at tenant meetings, and helping with BASTA outreach activities.
Volunteers will be contacted based on need. Currently, we need support in Pashto, Farsi, Arabic and Vietnamese. We sincerely appreciate all offers of assistance.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Please only submit responses for languages that you are fluent/proficient in.
APPLY NOW
National Alliance of HUD Tenants (NAHT):
Founded in 1991, NAHT is the first national membership organization of resident groups advocating for 2.1 million lower income families in privately-owned, HUD-assisted multifamily housing. Through NAHT, tenants have proven that united action can mount an effective campaign to save people’s homes. For seven years, from 1995-2002, the National Alliance of HUD Tenants (NAHT) initiated and coordinated a successful VISTA program in HUD multi-family housing. The program placed up to 60 VISTA organizers each year in local host sites, and at the conclusion of the project, reached 32 cities in 27 states. .NAHT VISTAs helped tenants form more than 520 tenant organizations that met HUD standards, including several that achieved resident ownership of their developments. With assistance from VISTAs, these tenant associations preserved or improved more than 70,000 at-risk HUD apartments, and trained tens of thousands of tenants on their rights.
Equal Justice Works has partnered with NAHT to select organizing host sites and to provide training and support for 33 VISTA organizers placed with 20 local nonprofit tenant assistance organizations.
BASTA is a non-profit project dedicated to helping Austin renters work together to improve the conditions of their homes and communities.
PRIVACY POLICY