Partner Agency: CommonBond Communities
Main Office: 1080 Montreal Ave. St. Paul, MN 55116
Service Location(s): Skyline Tower, Seward Tower- East, Seward Tower- West
Website: https://commonbond.org/our-mission/
Site Supervisor: Ivy Yorm, Advantage Services Regional Manager
Site History and Mission:
CommonBond was born out of the social justice movement in 1971, with the belief that affordable housing is one of the most effective ways to eliminate racial and economic disparities in our communities. CommonBond’s mission is to build stable homes, strong futures, and vibrant communities with the vision that every person has a dignified, affordable home that supports independence and advancement within a flourishing community.
CommonBond owns and/or manages 7,215 units of affordable housing across 116 communities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and South Dakota, serving nearly 13,000 residents each year. Common Bond offers Advantage Services, a critical component of CommonBond’s integrated Housing and Services model. The goal when working with families is to assist them with accessing resources and relevant community-based services so they can remain stable and pursue advancement opportunities, and to also leverage community partners to share resources and provide services within the community room spaces onsite in the housing communities.
All three housing communities are easily accessible by public transportation. All sites also have free and secure off street parking
Preferred Site Schedule:
On site, Monday – Friday primarily between the hours of 8:30am-4:30pm.
Every month, CTEP members attend Corps Day training which is CTEP’s professional development program. Corps Days provide training on a range of topics designed to strengthen leadership, communication, conflict management, data collection, and intercultural competency. CTEP engages local experts to train members in the skills they need to successfully complete their service year and prepare them for the next step in their careers after service. Members also attend statewide AmeriCorps events, such as the Martin Luther King Day celebration, and may serve on the statewide InterCorps Council (www.iccminnesota.org)
Member’s Specific Program Responsibilities:
The CTEP Americorps members will be called Digital Literacy Coordinators and work with teens, adults and seniors in each of the 3 housing communities proposed. The Digital Literacy Coordinator will provide the following:
- Digital Literacy skills instruction: teach basic computer skills, internet navigation and software use to teens, adults and seniors.
- Job Readiness Support: assist individuals in developing skills for job searching, resume writing, and online applications.
- Resource navigation and connection: assist individuals in developing the skills for navigating and connecting to resources online including telehealth, education, government services, benefits, and banking.
- The Digital Literacy Coordinators will utilize small group workshops and one-on-one support to teach and enhance participants’ skills.
- Partner with the Advantage Services Coordinators to plan and implement community engagement activities to promote the digital literacy programs and services they are offering to the community.
- They will also engage in direct outreach to residents through flyer creation, providing content for the sites’ newsletter, and door-knocking.
Site Environment:
Each housing community has an Advantage Center located within the building, and this includes office space for the service coordination team and programming staff, a computer lab, classrooms for programming, and meeting space for the team and/or residents to utilize.
The CTEP position would have a cubicle workspace outside the computer lab with the Advantage Services team members, and a workspace set up within the computer lab that they can use during open lab times.
CommonBond provides all the technology and supplies needed to fulfill the goals of the program and provides document translation and in person interpretation for other languages residents may need. The Advantage Services team who works onsite at each housing community are supervised by a Regional Manager and are a part of a larger Zone team of service coordinators from other housing communities in close geographic proximity. The Zone teams meet with their Regional Managers on a weekly basis and the CTEP position would participate in those Zone team meetings.
The 3 CTEPs would also meet together with their supervisors on a monthly basis to share what is working, what has been challenging and to share ideas for upcoming events, classes and programs.
How to Apply:
Go to my.americorps.gov to create an application. Select Search Listings in the left hand column, then scroll down to Advanced Search. Enter the following information in each section:
AmeriCorps Program Type: select “State and National”
Service Term: select “Full-Time”
Where to Serve: select “Minnesota”
Service Areas: select “Community and Economic Development”
Look for CTEP at CommonBond Communities. For questions about applying, contact Tess Hackbarth at hackbarth@spnn.org.
CommonBond and CTEP comply with federal and state disability laws and make reasonable accommodations for applicants and candidates with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact Allison Williams, CTEP Program Director at williams@spnn.org
AmeriCorps prohibits all forms of discrimination and harassment based on the protected categories of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability (mental or physical), political affiliation, marital or parental status, pregnancy, reprisal, genetic information (including family medical history), or military service.