5833 Sherbrooke West
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Job Posting: Young Parents Program Coordinator
Head & Hands, a multi-service youth organization based in NDG, is hiring for the position of Young Parents Program Coordinator. The Young Parents Program (YPP) is a drop-in community group for young parents and their kids that meets twice a week. At the YPP childcare educators animate fun and educational programming for kids while parents participate in a wide range of activities. The goals of the YPP include: breaking isolation among young parents, empowering participants in their roles as parents and community members, and creating a forum where young parents can share experiences, resources, and challenges. The YPP also aims to provide children with a high quality learning environment.
The main responsibilities of the Young Parents Program Coordinator include: designing and facilitating programming in collaboration with parents; creating a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere; supporting families in accessing resources; coordinating a Hot Lunch Program; leading the YPP staff team including supervision of childcare educators and interns; grant writing and fundraising; managing an annual budget of approximately $90,000; outreach and promotion of the program.
Requirements
- Commitment to principles of anti-oppression, harm reduction, and non judgment
- Experience doing empowerment based work with families from diverse social, cultural, and economic backgrounds
- Ability to nurture a welcoming, respectful and confidential environment
- Experience with active listening, referral, and other forms of individual support within a non-judgmental, harm-reductive framework
- Knowledge of issues and challenges related to parenting
- Experience working with youth 16 - 25
- Experience with program design and coordination
- Group animation experience
- Experience working both autonomously and in a team
- Administrative experience, including basic computer skills
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Flexibility and ability to multi-task
- Excellent writing skills
- Commitment to consensus-based decision making
- Bilingual, French and English
- Ability to commit to position for a minimum of 2 years
Assets
- Knowledge of family and community resources in Montreal area
- Experience as a leader in a small team
- Fundraising and/or grant writing experience
- Familiarity with NDG communities
- Experience doing outreach and promotion
- Budget-management experience
- Event planning experience
- Additional spoken languages
Ideal candidate is available as of March 12, 2012. $16/hour, 38 hrs/week + benefits. Must be available Tuesday afternoons, Wednesdays and Fridays, for one evening shift/week and for occasional weekend activities. Head & Hands welcomes the unique contributions that individuals from marginalized and oppressed communities bring to our organization, and invites these individuals to apply. We encourage applicants to describe the unique contributions they, as individuals with diverse experiences, would bring to Head & Hands in their cover letter.
For more information about this opportunity, please contact Madeleine at (514) 481-0277. CVs and cover letter must be sent via email to info@headandhands.ca or dropped off at our office, 5883 Sherbrooke W. Attn: YPP Hiring Committee by Thursday February 9th at 11:00 am.
Dear members of the Head & Hands community,
We regret to inform you that as of August 19th 2011 Head & Hands has been unable to provide Street Work services. We recently lost our funding for this program in its entirety as well as two invaluable front-line intervention workers, Robyn and Sara. This was the only program of its kind in NDG; it enabled us to offer full time non-judgmental and harm reductive services to our clients outside of our doors and our opening hours.
Every year our street workers have worked towards Hepatitis C and HIV prevention by distributing hundreds of clean needles and thousands of condoms. They have also provided education and support to countless youth who otherwise may not have accessed our services. Without the Street Work program, we are no longer able to provide clean needles and crack gear, our emergency food pantry, or metro tickets. Our presence in bars, hotels, metros, group homes, and the streets of NDG has been heavily impacted.
This funding cut is a huge blow to our organization and we deeply regret that we are unable to provide these services to our clients at this time. Many organizations are struggling with cuts such as these. Social services are essential, and we believe that governments at all levels should prioritize their stability. Despite these challenges, we remain committed to a future at Head & Hands that includes the Street Work program. Our vision of a healthy community has not changed, nor has our determination to meet the diverse needs of NDG's youth.
In the absence of the Street Work program, we maintain our accompaniment services (e.g. to abortion clinics and court dates), drug education workshops, condom distribution through our main office, and sexual health education and support through our Health Services. We are also providing referrals to other street work and prevention-based organizations.
We are currently strategizing around how to bring this program back to Head & Hands and NDG. We welcome the support of our community. If you are interested in joining our mailing list so we can update you about ways to get involved, please email info@headandhands.ca or call us at (514) 481-0277.
Sincerely,
The Staff and Board of Head & Hands
Media Contact: Juniper Belshaw, 514-481-0277, membres@headandhands.ca
CALLOUT
STIgma Zine: Breaking the silence on living with an STI
Head & Hands wants your stories for an upcoming zine! We want to demystify the reality of living with Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). What are the real consequences of STIs on the emotional, relational and sexual lives of youth aged 12-25? There are many misconceptions, taboos and stigma surrounding STIs, which can prevent people from getting the support and information they need. We believe that by providing real stories without judgment, we can learn from the experiences of others, and hopefully equip each other in dealing with a diagnosis.
This is why we need your help! We would like to hear your stories and present the diversity of experiences related to STIs that are often kept silent. You can be as creative as you want in your submission: it can be a story, a poem, a drawing, a list... as long as it fits in a zine format (can be photocopied in black & white, ideally no more than 500 words!). Your submission can be written in french or in english.
If you are not between 12-25 but you would like to submit a story, please feel free!
Here are some topics we hope to cover in the zine and that might help you present your story:
● When you found out that you had an STI - What happened? How did you feel? How did you react?
● Telling your partners and other people in your life - What might influence your decision to tell people? What reactions can you anticipate? What do you think can make it easier or harder to address it with partners? When is it necessary?
● Emotions about living with an STI - How does it affect your day-to-day life? Do you encounter stigma or discrimination? How can we combat prejudices, individually and collectively?
● Sexuality with STIs - Does your sex life have to change? If so, what do you have to change? What does "safer sex" mean in different situations?
All the submissions will remain anonymous in the zine. The identities of the individuals who submit to the zine will be kept confidential. If you feel comfortable, you can leave your first name or a pseudonym and your age - we would put it at the end of your submission, so that people find it easier to relate to your story. If not, that's ok too!
You can get your submission to us in a few different ways. In all these cases, Gabrielle (Sense Project intern) and Nikki (Health Educator at Head & Hands) will be the only ones who read and compile the submissions.
● In person at Head & Hands office: 5833, rue Sherbrooke Ouest
● By mail at Head & Hands office: C.P. 206 Succ. NDG, Montréal (QC), H4A 3P5
● By email at: avoirdusens.ed.sex@gmail.com
The deadline to submit your story or work of art is Friday, February 24, 2012. If you have any questions about the zine or how to submit, contact Gabrielle at 514-481-0277 or avoirdusens.ed.sex@gmail.com!
Thank you!
Head & Hands is a non-profit organization that offers legal, medical, and social services to youth ages 12-25, with an anti-oppressive, non-judgmental empowerment approach, and we are looking for volunteers to enrich our team!
We are looking for committed, open minded volunteers whose actions, mindset, and temperament parallel the non-judgmental, anti-oppressive and empowering fundamentals of Head & Hands.
These volunteers will replace at the front desk (approximately one shift per month), and assist staff with administrative tasks. Front desk replacement involves directing clients to the appropriate Head & Hands service, providing referrals and information about other Montréal organizations, and acting as first responder to clients in need of support. Training includes active listening and conflict de-escalation, introductions to anti-racist, anti-classist, queer positive, trans positive approaches to meeting our clients' needs in a fashion that parallels the organization's mission and vision.
Ideal applicants will meet the following criteria:
- Age 17 yrs. or older
- Able to commit to 12 months of volunteering
- Able to commit to 5-8 hours/month of volunteering
- Monday-Friday daytime and/or evening availability
- Fluency in English and functionality in spoken French
- Available for training sessions (see dates below)
Training Dates:
- January 28th: 12-4pm
- January 29th: 12-4pm
- February 4th: 12-4pm
- February 5th: 12-4pm
- February 6th: 4-8pm
If you meet the above criteria and are interested in being part of our team, please complete the volunteer application form and send to Hannah at: info@headandhands.ca before January 16th, 2012.
If you have any questions please feel free to email, or call at (514) 481-0277!