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VISTA Community Engagement Coordinator

L.A. Works
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AmeriCorps VISTA Position Description

VISTA Community Engagement Coordinator - A Sense of Home

POSITION: VISTA Community Engagement Coordinator 

CLASSIFICATION: Full time – 40 hours, non-exempt   

REPORTS TO: Community Engagement Manager 

POSITION START: April 6, 2026  

WORK SCHEDULE: Tuesday-Saturday 8:30am-5pm 

Hybrid schedule with up to 1 day per week remote (subject to change based on program needs)   

VISTA PROGRAM: AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) is a national service program dedicated to ending poverty by building the capacity of nonprofit organizations and public agencies. VISTA’s mission is to strengthen and supplement efforts in low-income communities to eliminate and alleviate poverty by engaging volunteers from all walks of life, all geographical areas, and all age groups in a year of full-time service. 

Members of the L.A. Works Volunteer Corps Program are placed with nonprofit partner organizations like A Sense of Home to serve for 12 months and are tasked with a capacity-building project. The benefits of becoming a VISTA member include:  

  • Living Allowance - Receive a modest bi-weekly living allowance of $30,116.15 per year to cover basic expenses.  
  • Healthcare Benefits - Choice between reimbursement for healthcare or a healthcare plan that also includes dental and vision coverage. 
  • Professional Development - Receive in-person and virtual professional development opportunities from L.A. Works and AmeriCorps VISTA throughout the year. 
  • Child Care Assistance - VISTA members may be eligible to receive a childcare benefit if you have children under the age of 13.  
  • End of Service Award - Choose between the AmeriCorps Segal Education Award $7,395 to pay for education expenses or a cash stipend of $1,800.  
  • Non-Competitive Eligibility (NCE) – Opportunity to qualify for NCE, a unique hiring path that makes it easier for federal agencies to hire you. 

 ORGANIZATIONAL MISSION  

A Sense of Home strives to prevent homelessness by creating first-ever homes and a community for youth aging out of foster care. 50% of those struggling with homelessness are former foster youth. The homeless crisis can only end through prevention.   

POSITION PURPOSE  

Youth aging out of foster care are charged with the almost insurmountable feat of securing housing, finding employment, and quickly becoming self-sufficient all on their own. In the most competitive market with one of the highest costs of living in the country, Los Angeles has the largest transition-age youth (TAY) population. To compound the challenges facing TAY as they “age out,” the cost of furnishings and household goods is higher than ever, stretching their extremely limited means even further. With no furniture and no financial means to attain any, foster TAY and their children sleep, sit, study and eat on bare floors. Unsurprisingly, research shows that this lack of fundamental home furnishings directly contributes to homelessness, housing instability, and perpetuates the cycle of poverty. 

A Sense of Home’s VISTA Community Engagement Coordinator will be instrumental in addressing this need and will coordinate “Home Creations” where up to 25 volunteers will come together to help transform empty apartments into a warm, fully furnished homes for aged-out foster youth throughout LA County. This VISTA position is vital to giving community volunteers the opportunity to play a role in preventing homelessness for former foster youth and their young families. By coordinating Home Creations, this position creates a launchpad for A Sense of Home to then provide housing & resource navigation and empowerment programs that help ensure housing stability and the overall well-being of transition-aged foster youth. Once connected to ASOH, youth have a housing stability rate of 93% after 5 years.  

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

The VISTA Community Engagement Coordinator’s duties include but are not limited to:  

Community Home Creation Coordination (60%) 

  • Volunteer Outreach. Anticipate upcoming Community Home Creations in regions that accept Foster Youth to Independent (FYI) Housing Vouchers (ex. Pomona, Norwalk, Inglewood) and conduct targeted outreach to faith-based organizations, community groups (ex. Girl Scouts), and corporations to identify and engage reliable pools of volunteers. 
  • Volunteer Coordination. Recruit for and coordinate two monthly Community Home Creations on Thursdays, Fridays, or Saturdays, ensuring that all volunteers have signed ASOH’s electronic waiver, understand their upcoming volunteer assignment, and obtain all the pertinent volunteer information (ex. Address, parking instructions, community guidelines) while acting as the volunteer point of contact day-of.  
  • Day-Of Logistics. Ensure the ASOH team is ready day-of including coordinating lunch for volunteers (ex. Panera Bread order), creating volunteer name tags, and loading the ASOH truck with volunteer supplies prior (ex. Water bottles, t-shirts, applicable signage).  
  • Volunteer Retention. Thank volunteers post-Community Home Creation and thoughtfully engage with ASOH’s Community Engagement Manager and Director of Community Impact to flag additional means to engage and activate volunteers as recurring supporters, donors, advocates, in-kind donors, and event attendees. 

Warehouse Volunteer Coordination (20%) 

  • Furniture Builders. Coordinate individual volunteers dedicated to building flat-pack furniture necessary for Home Creations (ex. Dressers, console tables, side tables) while engaging with the ASOH Logistics Manager and Logistics Coordinator to ensure the facility is prepared to welcome shifts (ex. Set-up tool kits, identify needed items to build).  
  • Design Volunteers. Liaise with the Home Coordinator to create and coordinate a schedule of Design Volunteers while welcoming shifts for individuals to help choose home décor necessary to personalize every home to former foster youth interests and preferences (ex. Favorite colors, modern vs. bohemian).  
  • Kit Assembly Support. Liaise with the Home Coordinator to create and coordinate a schedule of Kit Assembly Volunteers while welcoming shifts for individuals to help organize in-kind donations bathroom, kitchen, and eating “kits” that help make each room functional. 

Volunteer Administrative Tasks (20%)  

  • Electronic Waiver Coordination. Liaise with Home Creation and warehouse volunteers to help ensure they sign our electronic waiver on our ASOH app prior to volunteering. 
  • Home Creation Preparation. Prepare supplies for each Home Creation – including Community and Sponsored events – including volunteer t-shirts, water, pre-written nametags, and branding materials.  
  • Community Engagement.  Respond to volunteer inquiries as they arise via voicemails, home@asenseofhome.org and volunteer platform listings while liaising with the Community Engagement Manager for support as needed. 

 Duties and responsibilities may be added, deleted, modified or changed at any time at ASOH’s discretion, to fulfill the Position Purpose. Changes may be made formally, informally either verbally or in writing. 

 EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE  

  • Related experience with volunteers, customer service, administrative tasks, and/or working with diverse populations.  

 ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS  

  • Must have access to reliable transportation as frequent local travel is required for the job.  
  • Comfortability with communicating over the phone, virtually and in-person while establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships 
  • Experience working with computers, cameras, scanners, phones, and printers. 
  • Experience using various software including client database software, cloud based software  such as Google Drive, Zoom, and DropBox. 
  • Ability to organize, plan, and prioritize projects. 
  • Ability to make decisions and solve problems. 
  • Ability to process information and verify accuracy of data. 

KNOWLEDGE REQUIREMENT  

  • Analytical Skills - Ability to process and analyze vague, abstract verbal and written instructions. Ability to visualize and assess abstract ideas. Ability to read, analyze complex documents, and communicate analysis in oral and written form.   
  • Reasoning Ability - Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.  
  • Communications and Media - Requires public speaking, phone conversations, use of email, writing letters and memos, face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams and contact with others.   
  • English Language - Strong knowledge in reading, writing, and speaking of the English language. Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence. Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of the Company.   
  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing superior customer and personal services.   
  • Mathematical Skills - Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.  
  • Computers and Electronics - Working knowledge of email, social media networks, computers, smartphones, equipment, graphics software and CRM system.  
  • Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, and other office procedures and terminology.   
  • Law and Government - Knowledge of applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances   

DIVERSITY EQUITY AND INCLUSION  

ASOH is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion and strongly encourages people of color, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those with protected class backgrounds to apply. We value the individuals that we hire and look forward to creating a positive work environment for all identities.  

OUR COMMITMENT  

We are committed to not only providing a diverse and inclusive workplace, but we value the health and wellbeing of our team members. We also believe in providing a workplace that fosters advancement and professional development for all employees, conducting our day-to-day business practices accordingly.  

HISTORY AND CONTEXT  

ASOH began as a random act of kindness, when the founders Georgie Smith and Melissa Goddard saw an injustice and acted upon it. They noticed that young people exiting foster care had overcome the odds against them, achieved securing a roof over their heads, only to be forced to sleep on cold bare floors, and struggle without fridges, stoves, lighting, a table to eat from nor study off of. The lack of means to make a space a home is a significant inequity that has proven to hold back those working and studying hard to overcome the challenges of the world and create a better future for them. Since then, ASOH has grown into a caring community of skilled staff and dedicated volunteers, providing much needed resources to over 375 former foster youth and their children annually.   

A UNIQUE SPACE AND OPPORTUNITY FOR LEARNING AND HEALING FOR ALL  

We are committed to action for impact and won’t stop learning, listening, growing and serving. We are committed to evolving our work and model to ensuring we always:  

  • Evolve how we achieve our goals and deepen the impact  
  • Listen to those we serve 
  • Partner with organizations that uplift marginalized communities  
  • Find and implement new tools in our programs that overcome unique barriers to healing 
  • Amplify more BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) voices 
  • Ensure a safe, inclusive, diverse workplace for employees, volunteers, donors, and those we serve 
  • Integrate social justice and public health scholars in the development of our organization 

WORK ENVIRONMENT  

  • Lifting and moving - Requires ability to lift, move, transport, and stage furniture and other home goods sometimes in excess of 25 pounds.   
  • Body positioning - Requires using hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls and prolonged periods of standing and/or sitting   
  • Competition - Requires competition or awareness of competitive pressures   
  • Conflict - Requires dealing with potentially unpleasant, angry, or discourteous people, including conflict situations   
  • Impact of decisions - Requires making decisions that impact the results of co-workers, vendors, sponsors, donors, volunteers or the company   
  • Opportunity to make decisions without supervision - Requires making decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization   
  • Level of challenge - Requires being exact or highly accurate. Also requires repeating the same physical activities or mental activities over and over - often with freedom to determine tasks, priorities, and goals   
  • Pace and scheduling - Requires meeting strict deadlines and adhering to tight timelines   
  • Personal Interaction - Requires work with external individuals, organizations, businesses, or the public. Also, requires coordinating or leading others in accomplishing work activities and work with others in a group or team   
  • Responsibility for Others - Includes responsibility for work outcomes, results, and safety of others   

WORK SETTING  

Requires working in office space as well as warehouse space in cold or  hot conditions as well as outdoors in hot, cold, wet, humid and/or dry conditions. Work is often performed in recipients’ homes. Also, requires ability to climb stairs or hills at times while lifting. Work is often performed in warehouse settings with tight spaces for travel/access. Requires ability to lift, reach, hold and move heavy items, at times onto and from shelving units.