Job Description

START/END DATE: 6/20/2023 – 8/28/2023

City of Renton Parks and Recreation Department and United Way of King County are partnering together and seeking a team of full-time Summer HungerCorps Associates to end hunger in King County. This team will help families and youth access nutritious food during the summer months.

City of Renton:

The City of Renton embraces a diverse and inclusive workforce and prides itself on promoting collaboration and teamwork in a positive environment while providing high quality services to the community. The Parks and Trails Division includes programs for Parks Maintenance, Renton Farmers Market and coordinating Volunteer opportunities. For more information about the City of Renton, please visit the following website: Why Renton?This link will take you away from uwkc.org

United Way of King County:

United Way of King County’s vision is to build a community where people have homes, students graduate, and families are financially stable. United Way concentrates on issues that affect the most vulnerable and on which it can have measurable influence. Under our priority of breaking the cycle of poverty, we are committed to ensuring that families, especially families of color, have access to nutritious food.

Program Overview:

Access to good food and supportive relationships shouldn’t end when school is out. In King County, 100,000 low-income children and teenagers rely on free or discounted meals during the school year, but only 1 in 5 of them access locally served free meals during the summer. Additionally, since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, local leaders estimate that hunger in our community has tripled. Low-income families and families of color have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and are experiencing hunger at unprecedented rates.

The Summer Food Service Program (Summer Meals) is a critical resource to ensure that children continue to have access to summer nutrition support. National studies show that summer meals programs increase food security, reduce susceptibility to chronic diseases, and mitigate summer learning loss for children from low-income families – but prior to the pandemic, less than 15% of low-income youth in King County accessed Summer Meals programs each year. This is due to preventable barriers – including too few sites, lack of awareness about the program, and a lack of activities and incentives to engage kids and teens.

Your Role:

This Summer HungerCorps Associate will be part of a passionate cohort of 100 total direct service AmeriCorps members working across King County in partnership with food banks and community-based organizations to connect families with the food they need. Here at City of Renton Parks and Recreation Department, you will join 5 other members in this work to support food security during the summer months at local parks – Heritage Park and Sunset Neighborhood Park.

Our Summer Associates will target barriers to Summer Meals through their service. They will work to implement creative solutions that increase access to the Free Summer Meals program by facilitating hands-on educational activities that includes arts and crafts, playing board games and sports to engage youth. Additional duties include conducting grassroots community outreach to get the word out about available food resources, which is imperative in breaking down barriers.

HungerCorps members will also work every Market-day Tuesday at Renton Farmers Market (RFM) providing direct services to families who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).  Tasks will include marketing the SNAP and SNAP Market Match benefits program at meal sites that are part of the Summer Meals program. RFM not only accepts traditional payments of cash and credit card, but also offers the technology for shoppers to use SNAP benefits to pay for food. Additionally, a grant from the State is secured to “match” those benefits so SNAP participants can ‘double’ their spending value for fresh produce. Information about these programs is provided in different languages at the Market and staff have access to a ‘Language Line’ for interpreters over the phone. Food donations are solicited from RFM vendors and shoppers to benefit the Renton Salvation Army Food Bank and low-income Seniors who participate in the lunch program at Don Persson Renton Senior Activity Center.

HungerCorps members will also assist with food distribution at the free drive-thru grocery store operated by Sustainable Renton every Monday from 5:30-7:30pm at St. Matthews Lutheran Church. Your service will aid in protecting participation and access to the Summer Meals program and help ensure that our community is able to achieve a just and equitable economic recovery from the pandemic.

As a part of this team, you will be supported with a robust orientation, ongoing training, and the tools and resources you need to be successful. Full training and certification provided.

Benefits & Compensation

• Bi-weekly stipend of $1,027, pre-tax
• Completion bonus from United Way of King County in the amount of $1,000 after successful completion of your service term
• Eligible to receive a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award ($1,459.26), or a cash stipend ($345.80) after successful completion of your service term. By law, only AmeriCorps VISTA members who are either US Citizens, US Nationals, or Lawful Permanent Residents are eligible to receive an AmeriCorps Segal Education Award. All other members will receive an end of service cash stipend.
• Unlimited public transportation (ORCA) pass
• Mileage reimbursement for travel between service sites, if required by your site placement
• Receive a Food Handler’s Permit and other professional development trainings
• Become part of the AmeriCorps Network and part of a high-impact team
• Receive special consideration for United Way’s Full-Time AmeriCorps teams beginning Fall 2023

Eligibility

• At least 18 years of age
• US citizen, US national, or lawful permanent residents, or persons legally residing in a state. Persons legally residing in a state include (but not limited to) those having the following legal residency classifications: refugee status, asylum or asylee status, temporary protected status, deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) status. Unfortunately, F1 Visas are not sufficient.
• Available full-time (40 hours per week) from June 20, 2023 to August 28, 2023
• Must go through background checks
• High school diploma/GED
• As part of the hiring process, all candidates will be asked to complete a screening survey. This survey will confirm eligibility and will ask a few started questions to learn a bit more about you. We will send you the link to the screening survey once we have your application, but you can also get a head start on it here: https://forms.gle/ouRsXxwH2ThSDd7ZAThis link will take you away from uwkc.org

Desired Qualifications:

• Self-starters who are passionate about supporting their community and public service
• Experience working independently in high-energy environments
• Flexible, resourceful, and adaptable
• Ability to build relationships and effectively communicate information to a broad audience, including conducting outreach to parents, youth and other community members
• Experience working with diverse populations and an ability to apply a racial equity lens towards anti-hunger work
• Second language skill (especially Spanish, Somali, Amharic, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Russian, or Ukrainian) is highly desirable so that we can offer services to families in their preferred or native languages.
• Consistent access to a personal vehicle is needed. Members who travel between service sites will receive mileage reimbursement at IRS standard rates

Members will frequently move or lift boxes weighing up to 30 pounds. This position may frequently involve service in outdoor weather conditions, and may involve standing, walking, or moving around the service location for the duration of a shift. This position frequently communicates with staff and community members, and must be able to exchange accurate information.

Commitment to Equity in Hiring: Hunger and poverty disproportionately hurt the most marginalized people in society — including people of color, people from working class backgrounds, women, and people who identify as LGBTQ+. We believe that these communities must be centered in the work we do. We strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities.

How to Apply

• The application process moves quickly, please expect a response within 1-2 days.
• Please contact unitedwayamericorps@uwkc.orgThis link will take you away from uwkc.org with any questions.

Job Types: Temporary. Salaries: Less than 20,000.

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