Blogs

I'm Rick Crouse, a fourth year neuroscience graduate student at Yale and the co-president of Yale Student Science Diplomats, an organization dedicated to science communication, outreach, and advocacy. I'm writing this post to spread the word about Science Haven.

Science Haven is a collaboration between two Yale student-led science outreach groups: Yale Student Science Diplomats and Open Labs. We are interested in partnering with community leaders to bring science demonstrations and activities to neighborhood events. In addition to doing cool science activities with local families, Science Haven aims to foster a greater sense of community between scientists and their neighbors. 

This summer, we attended community management team meetings around New Haven and brought fun, hands-on science activities to events. Some examples of our activities include extracting DNA from strawberries, spinning on a stool with weights to illustrate angular momentum, throwing items in beakers of water to explain density, and listening to the nerve cells inside a cockroach's leg! We also have some cool temporary tattoos that we give to kids after completing a demo! 

If you are hosting an event--we want to bring a table, some scientists, and demos to be part of the fun! If the event has a particular theme, we can do our best to design a related special activity. If you're not having an actual event, we also have access to researchers that have prepared talks about interesting science topics geared for the public, that would love to come to your community center, church, etc. If you're feeling really adventurous, we could host a mini science fair where our graduate students and postdocs bring scientific posters they designed to explain their research to middle schoolers! And if none of this quite fits what you had in mind, let me know and we can figure something out because, more than anything, we want to bring science to where the people are. We want to put a face to the lab coat and hope to foster a sense of trust and communication between New Haven residents and their neighborhood scientific community.

source: NeighborWork Leaders for Communities

In the past, non-profit organizations had to rely primarily on print media, TV, radio, and direct mailings to advertise their services to potential clientele and funders. However, thanks to the rise of social media within the last decade, non-profits have an opportunity to interact with their constituents more than ever before. Applications such as Facebook and Twitter allow organizations to market themselves with a few clicks of a button. 

Although he had limited professional experience in managing social media accounts prior to working at Asian Ameircans for Equality (AAFE) as an AmeriCorps VISTA, Douglas Lim took initiative in updating AAFE's social meida sites, primarily Facebook and Twitter. Through social media, AAFE increased its interaction with other local non-profit organizations and community members. By sharing information about AAFE and news stories relevant to the non-profit's mission, AAFE's "likes" on Facebook sextupled, and their Twitter followers quintupled since July of 2012...

http://www.leadersforcommunities.org/group/strategiesthatwork/forum/topic/show?id=2648219%3ATopic%3A55579&xg_source=msg

From the EmcArts newsletter:

The Cleveland Foundation has partnered with EmcArts through the Engaging the Future Program to work with 12 Cleveland cultural institutions that range from Museum of Contemporary Art to Karamu House as they generate innovative approaches for engaging younger and more diverse audiences.

Too often, ground-breaking strategies and advances remain isolated within individual organizations, unknown by the wider arts field. It is part of EmcArts' vision to move the dialogue around innovation from the margins to the center of our

discourse in the arts. This partnership provides a unique opportunity to share with you fresh thinking and courageous experimentation these 12 organizations are working on in order to address the challenge of change.

See the audio postcards here: http://vimeopro.com/artsfwd/stories-from-cleveland

CAHS mission and vision: Works to end poverty and to equip and empower all families in Connecticut to build a secure future. We envision a Connecticut where all children and families thrive and, regardless of income, contribute to and share in Connecticut’s growth.  Low-income residents—working in collaboration with policy makers, business and labor leaders, the faith community and the general public—play a central role in developing policies and programs that ensure the state’s prosperity, as well as their own. Together, they build a culture of shared responsibility and success. 

Job Description

Title:                                       Outreach Advocate

Employment Status:               Full-time, Exempt

Reports to:                              Program Director

Summary: The Connecticut Association for Human Services (CAHS) seeks a New Haven area Outreach Advocate.  The Outreach Advocate will work to increase Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-formerly food stamps) enrollment in Connecticut by conducting outreach and education in the greater New Haven area.  Information provided through outreach will include SNAP income guidelines, application information, pre-screening for benefit eligibility, and other activities designed to raise awareness of SNAP among eligible non-participants.  This effort is to take place throughout New Haven County in accordance with the Connecticut State Outreach plan.

Job Description:

Strategy & Execution

SNAP Outreach:

• Provide information about SNAP to potentially-eligible populations via incoming telephone calls.
• Become knowledgeable about program regulations, developments, and issues and discuss them with potential applicants.
• Conduct pre-screening of potentially-eligible populations in conjunction with outreach events and presentations using online screening tools.
• Provide application assistance via e-fax, mailings, telephone follow-up upon completing pre-screenings.

Leadership

• Close collaboration with the Program Director, outreach staff, and staff at partner agencies to ensure access to SNAP benefits.

Administration & Reporting

• Keep a running log of all applicants contacted and activities conducted in relation to the project.  Provide this information to the Program Director at the end of each month.

Requirements

•          Bachelor’s Degree in related field or equivalent experience

•          2-3 years professional experience with a nonprofit or volunteer organization

•          Bi-lingual (English-Spanish) strongly preferred

•          Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and internet resources. 

Key Qualifications

•          Ability to collaborate well with others.

•          Ability to handle multiple projects.

•          Superior time management and communication skills.

•          Ability to grasp complex program regulations and effectively communicate them to diverse audiences.

•          Ability to communicate effectively on the telephone and in writing to a diverse group of people.

•          Comfortable with online screening tools (training provided).

•          Creative and energetic problem solver, who is able to work effectively in a team.

•          Friendly, flexible, confident and assertive.

Send resume, cover letter, references and salary requirements to Brian Berry at bberry@cahs.org