Refugee Health Promotion (RHP) Family Activity Specialist
YMCA of Greater Houston, Houston, TX, United States
YMCA International Services is a unique branch of the YMCA of Greater Houston that seeks to meet the needs of Houston's significant refugee and immigrant communities. We provide comprehensive programs that focus on building human assets and fostering self-sufficiency.
The goal of the program is to promote the health and wellbeing of eligible newcomers by providing opportunities to increase health literacy, peer support, and wellness groups. This group is arriving with immediate and long-term physical and mental health needs and it is critical to ensure they can understand and access the U.S. healthcare system. In addition, supporting non-clinical services for refugees is vital to enhancing the wellbeing of this population. We understand that traditional emotional support groups are a Western idea and may be less appealing to refugees, so integrating culturally-appropriate family activities, in which they may not otherwise have the opportunity to participate, help promote program participation and this is where the RHP Family Activity Specialist comes in. As the RHP Family Activity Specialist, you will conduct outreach, design, plan, and coordinate small and large group activities to engage the entire family. Additionally, the RHP Family Activity Specialist will work closely with the RHP Peer Support Group Facilitators, community partners and volunteers necessary to carry out activities and increase visibility of YMCA programming in underserved communities.
Duties /Responsibilities- Design, plan, and coordinate group activities that promote health and well being
- Collaborate with YMCA of Greater Houston to organize and tailor family weekend retreats at Camp Cullen
- Organize cricket matches, kite flying at Hermann Park, Eid Celebrations, barbecue nights, and other events based on client input
- Work closely with RHP team and various departments to ensure activities are culturally appropriate and meet the needs and interests of the clients
- Cultivate and maintain relationships in key communities, resettlement agencies, legal services providers and organizations serving refugees to ensure widespread knowledge of available services and resources
- Create outreach materials and conduct program specific outreach efforts
- Work closely with admin team identify volunteers and in-kind donations for activities
- Track participation of participants
- Support and facilitate the day to day operations of the project
- Ensure that all administrative processes related to record-keeping, client files, funding and other administrative issues are done to the highest standards
- Other duties as assigned including food distribution rotation and airport pick-ups of newly arriving refugees
- Report suspicious and inappropriate behaviors and policy violations
- Follow mandated abuse and incident reporting requirements
- Meet timelines and deadlines related to supporting systems and employee compliance. Example includes but are not limited to Kronos Workforce Ready for review and approval of time sheets
- Plans at least two weekend family retreats and one youth weekend retreat at Camp Cullen
- Recruits at least 20 families to participate in each weekend retreat and as close to 30 youth for youth weekend retreat
- Organizes at least 9 family activities
- Bachelor's Degree in Public Health, Communication, History, Education, or Social Sciences (or related field).
- 2-3 years of outreach, event planning, group organization experience, or relevant experience with refugee and immigrant populations
- Experience with group facilitation, adult education, youth development, popular education highly desired
- Excellent written and verbal English skills including being comfortable speaking in public?
- Culturally aware, sensitive, and continuously works towards practicing cultural humility
- Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills
- Ability to create and manipulate documents and databases
- Experience working with volunteers and community members
- Is flexible, innovative, practices sound judgement, and takes initiative
- Works well under pressure and thrives under limited guidance
- Bilingual in Dari/Pashto preferred
- Texas Driver's License; clean driving record; own vehicle; and applicable auto insurance.
- Highly competitive compensation
- Generous and flexible PTO
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- Long term disability, basic life insurance and other voluntary benefits
- 403(B) retirement plan
- Free YMCA membership
Note: All positions are filled in response to current refugee arrivals and their language needs; as language needs change, this will necessitate flexibility in our staffing.
This is a grant funded position.The YMCA of Greater Houston provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.