Neighborhood Organizing Intern- Open Hearts Initiative

The Open Hearts Initiative builds community support for housing and services for homeless New Yorkers by organizing housed community residents to advocate for housing justice in their own backyards.

About the internship: As OHI grows, we’re looking for a motivated intern to help us expand our capacity to provide technical assistance to communities welcoming homeless neighbors and advocating for housing justice. This internship will run over the course of the summer (June through the end of August, with some flexibility for exact start and end dates depending on your academic schedule). You will report to the Director of Organizing. This internship pays $16/hour for up to 15 hours a week. This is an in-person role. A MetroCard will be provided for work-related travel.

Responsibilities: You will assist the team with a variety of projects and tasks that span the range of OHI’s work. Your responsibilities will depend on your interests and skills and OHI’s needs at a given time, but they may include:

• Communicating with volunteers and supporting the work of our chapters
• Managing the intake process for new volunteers
• Tracking news related to homelessness and housing
• Developing written resources for the “Guides” section on our website
• Building and strengthening connections with neighbors who are experiencing homelessness, including by attending and helping to organize monthly “Homelessness: Learning from Experience” meetings
• Creating content for OHI’s newsletter, website, and social media 
• Helping to plan and project-manage events
• Attending and taking notes on City Council, Community Board, and chapter meetings

Skills/Experience: You must bring a passion for housing justice and welcoming homeless neighbors. Our ideal intern is an excellent writer and communicator with extremely strong organizational and project management skills. You should be comfortable interacting with a wide range of people, getting on the phone to make a call, and showing up somewhere new and introducing yourself. Additional language competency and interest in NYC policy is a plus but not required.

Benefits

• A MetroCard will be provided for work-related travel.
• $16 /hr compensation

To Apply: Please email a resume and cover letter to Sara Newman at [email protected] with the subject line “Neighborhood Organizing Intern.” We will review applications on a rolling basis. 

Application deadline is March 29th, 2024.