Job Description

Youth Work-Site Coordinator for Edgewood Park Stewardship Program - Summer 2019

The Friends of Edgewood Park, New Haven, CT are looking for a coordinator to create and implement a five-week youth park stewardship work program in the park for summer 2019.

Work and Program Description:

The Site Coordinator will supervise three to five New Haven youth, ages 14 – 18, selected to participate in New Haven’s Youth at Work Program.  The youth will work 25 hours per week, July 1 – Aug 2   The coordinator will work 30 hours per week.  The Site Coordinator will plan and oversee the young people’s work, most often independently, and sometimes alongside community members and other volunteers. The Coordinator will work with the group to create and implement environmental projects and help the youth learn valuable long-term work skills.

In these Youth@Work park programs, the young people will focus on:

• Infrastructure improvements -  such as trail maintenance, tree planting and care, invasive plant control, and trash clean up,
• Environmental education – learning about plants, animals and eco-systems, and park/plant stewardship,
• Work skills development – attendance, punctuality, attitude toward work, and environmental careers.

Coordinator:

We are looking for a person who:

• Is excited to work with youth and diverse community members.
• Has youth leadership skills.
• Is creative, flexible, and autonomous, yet collaborative. S/he should be comfortable taking initiative. The position requires collaboration with Youth@Work and community members; working with the New Haven Parks Dept., and the Edgewood Park friends group.
• Have some knowledge of urban parks and their stewardship.
• Is comfortable leading and doing outside physical work.

We can offer you:

• $3080 total, for 10 hours of pre-program planning, and for 5 weeks of direct on-site supervision of the youth program, Jul 1 – Aug 2. (For 24 week days, the youth work 5 hours per day; the coordinator works 6 hours per day. No work on July 4. Coordinator pay is $20 per hour.)
• A base of diverse and passionate community members to help you design and implement the program.
• Financial support for implementation of the program (reimbursement for supplies/tools, etc. as approved by the park group.)
• Administrative support.
• A fascinating summer experience where you gain valuable insight into working with youth, community members, and the City of New Haven on environmental education and justice.

To apply for this position, please e-mail your resume and cover letter to Maria at mashashevshev@gmail.com by April 24.

We are on course to have an amazing summer at Schooner Camp for 2019!!

Join us for Long Island Sound exploration and sailing this summer. For ages 6-12, we have our popular one week Sound Explorer sailing program, but we also have a new two week Adventure Sailing program that will provide a more in depth experience for those learning to sail. For ages 6-8, we offer an exciting hands-on land based program exploring the Sound.

We have a generous scholarship program again this year for income eligible families. Our goal is to provide camp opportunity for 50% of campers with the support of financial aid. The application is available on our website or can be completed in conjunction with online camp registration. We hope you'll help us spread the word! 

Do you know someone that would make an amazing camp staff member, sailing instructor or Junior Counselor? Schooner Camp is hiring! We are looking for sailing instructors, environmental educators and an assistant camp director. Please link here for the job descriptions. Junior Counselors are teens ages 15+ that can receive volunteer hours for assisting staff at Schooner. Junior Counselors register through the online camp system.  

Further details on camp are listed on the Schooner section of our website. If you have any questions, please call the Land Trust office at 203-562-6655 or email Cori Merchant, Camp Director at cori.merchant@newhavenlandtrust.org 

Interested in serving on the Board of Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen?  Check out the Board membership posting below or on our website.

POSTING

Board of Directors Membership

Multiple seats available

Nominations accepted through May 31, 2019

Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK) is currently accepting nominations for membership on our Board of Directors.  Ideal candidates will be passionate and committed to DESK’s mission.  This is a volunteer position with an expected commitment to a three-year term.

Mission and Background

DESK serves people experiencing homelessness or living in poverty by providing food assistance and services that promote health, community, and equity.  We are located in downtown New Haven, just off the Green.  Our core programs include nightly dinner, a weekly food pantry, a summer mobile pantry, and a senior lunch program.  DESK has been operating in New Haven since 1987.  For more information on our programs, services, history, and vision, visit us online at www.deskct.org.

DESK’s Board of Directors is comprised of a small group of professionals who are highly engaged in the community in a variety of ways, each bringing at least one area of specialization or knowledge to their Board service.  In addition to our monthly meeting, Board members meet as part of standing committees (Finance, Development, Program, Nominating, and Facilities) or task-forces.

Core Requirements and Responsibilities of Board Members

• Board Meeting Attendance – Board members must generally be available to meet for the full Board meeting on the second Monday of each month.
• Committee Participation – Board members must serve on at least one standing committee. 
• Fiduciary Responsibility – Board members are responsible for providing financial oversight to the organization, including adherence to relevant laws, appropriate expenditures, and ethical fundraising practices.
• Programmatic Oversight – Board members are responsible for determining ethical, appropriate, and impactful program and service provision.
• Employment Oversight – Board members are responsible for ensuring ethical and fair employment practices in accordance with all laws.
• Strategic Planning – Board members are responsible for setting the mission, vision, and values of the organization and determine the long-term plans for achieving predetermined goals and ensuring organizational sustainability.

Skillsets and Backgrounds Currently Being Sought

• Social service and healthcare professionals
• Food service professionals
• Representation from underserved communities and neighborhoods in New Haven
• Financial and accounting professionals
• General diversity of voice

Compensation and Benefits

Board service is an unpaid volunteer position.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should complete the online application at www.downtowneveningsoupkitchen.com/hr, or email a cover letter and résumé to Daniel Scholfield at president@deskct.org with “Board Member Application” in the subject line.

DESK values greatly the role of diversity in organization and strongly encourages applications from people of all backgrounds and lifestyles.

LEAP is looking to hire a Development and Marketing Associate. Reporting to the Director of Development, the Development and Marketing Associate is responsible for the management of all development office systems and administrative functions, including LEAP's donor database, as well as communications and marketing via social media and press. Go to www.leapforkids.org/jobs to see the full job description. Please email your cover letter, resume, and short writing sample to   if you are interested in applying.

WAKING UP. WORKING out. Riding the bus. Music is an ever-present companion for many of us, and its impact is undeniable. You know music makes you move and triggers emotional responses, but how and why? What changes when you play music, rather than simply listen? In the latest episode of Tech Effects, we tried to find out. Our first stop was USC's Brain & Creativity Institute, where I headed into the fMRI to see how my brain responded to musical cues—and how my body did, too. (If you're someone who experiences frisson, that spine-tingling, hair-raising reaction to music, you know what I'm talking about.) We also talked to researchers who have studied how learning to play music can help kids become better problem-solvers, and to author Dan Levitin, who helped break down how the entire brain gets involved when you hear music.

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/tech-effects-how-does-music-affect-your-brain/ ;

Some people ask me why CHN keeps insisting that in order to heal, we, as people of African ancestry, must Defy the Lie of Black Inferiority and Embrace the Truth of Black Humanity.  

“Can’t you find some softer language?” they ask.

Sure, we could. But...

Source -  Community healing Network Blog: https://www.communityhealingnet.org/why-defy-why-the-lie/

Strategies to help upper elementary and middle school kids who have experienced trauma understand and control their emotions.

Source - Edutopia: https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-students-how-deal-stress

A new study shows that growing up in an affluent community brings “compounding privileges” and higher educational attainment—especially for white residents.,,

City Lab: https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/03/social-inequality-data-race-wealth-education-white-privilege/584761/ ;

The arts can be a source of joy in a child’s day, and also come in handy for memorizing times tables.

My parents lived good lives and expected to die good deaths. They exercised daily, ate plenty of fruits and vegetables, and kept, in their well-organized files, boilerplate advance health directives. But when he was 79, my beloved and seemingly vigorous father came up from his basement study, put on the kettle for tea, and had a devastating stroke. For the next 6½ years, my mother and I watched, heartbroken and largely helpless, as he descended into dementia, near-blindness and misery. To make matters worse, a pacemaker, thoughtlessly inserted two years after his stroke, unnecessarily prolonged his worst years on Earth...

Read more...

https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/How-to-prepare-yourself-for-the-good-end-of-life-13622599.php

When the president of the United States says “America first,” he is making his voters happy. I can understand that. But from a global perspective, this statement isn’t relevant. Everything is interconnected today...

Continue reading:

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-dalai-lama-alt-we-need-an-education-of-the-heart-20171113-story.html?fbclid=IwAR2ptNxav_imP95XAl8kWrM3kJTcCZjo4BCmj7E9M9-Ci1TrPYvbnrN0naY ;