CUNY Cares Housing Specialist

Full-time - Mid Level

Hybrid - New York, NY

Educational Services

About the position

CUNY Comprehensive Access to Resources for Essential Services (CUNY CARES) is a pilot program designed to demonstrate and evaluate a new approach to integrated, comprehensive, student-centered health and social services for 30,000 students attending CUNY's three Bronx campuses: Lehman, Bronx Community, and Hostos Community Colleges. The CUNY Cares Housing Specialist will develop and lead housing support services for CUNY students at these campuses as part of the CUNY CARES Bronx Demonstration Project. This role is crucial in linking CUNY students to essential services such as health, mental health, food security, and housing, ultimately aiming to improve their wellbeing and academic success. The responsibilities of the Housing Specialist include creating an inventory of existing housing support services, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, and identifying community and city-based partners to enhance housing support services for students facing housing instability. The Specialist will also collaborate with various stakeholders to collect and synthesize data on housing instability among CUNY Bronx students. Additionally, the Specialist will convene a workgroup to develop a multi-year work plan for implementing housing support services and partnerships, organize educational workshops, and provide training to enhance housing support services across the campuses. This position is hybrid, allowing for both remote and on-site work, and is part of a broader initiative led by the CUNY Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs, with support from the CUNY Office of Academic Affairs and Healthy CUNY.

Responsibilities

• Create an inventory of all housing support services provided to students at the three Bronx campuses and assess their strengths and weaknesses.
• Describe and assess the strengths and weaknesses of community-based housing programs with which campuses interact, in consultation with Bronx campus resource centers.
• Identify community and city-based partners to develop enhanced housing support services for CUNY students facing housing instability and prioritize a few organizations for partnerships.
• Collaborate with Healthy CUNY faculty and staff, the CUNY CARES Project Evaluator, and the CUNY Office of Institutional Research to collect and synthesize data on housing instability among CUNY Bronx students.
• Convene a Bronx CUNY CARES Housing Support Workgroup to develop a multi-year work plan for housing support services and partnerships.
• Organize workshops and educational sessions aimed at aiding students experiencing housing instability within three months of starting the position.
• Identify nonprofit or government partners to collaborate with CUNY CARES in developing new housing opportunities for students facing housing instability.
• Provide training and technical assistance to other programs at the three Bronx campuses that seek to enhance or add housing support services.
• Assist the CUNY CARES Evaluator in documenting housing needs and efforts to meet them.
• Serve as a liaison for CUNY CARES with city and nonprofit housing groups.
• Assist with preparing funding requests for additional support for housing assistance.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree and four years' related experience required.
• Master's degree in urban planning, student services, social work, or a related discipline preferred.
• At least three years' experience providing housing and other support to low-income young adults.
• Strong interpersonal, communications, and problem-solving skills.
• Knowledge of the CUNY system and experience working in low income, immigrant, Black or Latinx communities, especially in the Bronx, is highly desirable.
• Proficiency in Spanish is desirable.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience working with community-based organizations.
• Familiarity with data collection and analysis related to housing instability.
• Ability to develop educational materials and workshops.

Benefits

• Health plans
• Competitive retirement/pension benefits
• Savings plans
• Tuition waivers for CUNY graduate study
• Generous paid time off
• Access to academic, arts, and athletic programs on campuses
• Opportunity to participate in a diverse academic community.