Outreach Worker (Part-Time)

About The City of Cambridge:
The City of Cambridge is a diverse and vibrant community that people of different ethnic, racial, religious, national, and other backgrounds call home. We take pride in our city’s diversity and strive to create a workplace that is reflective of the community we serve. The city is also deeply committed to creating an environment in which all our employees are treated equitably and feel included. We seek to hire, develop, and advance individuals who value antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI), and are committed to embedding ADEI best practices and tenets in all aspects of our work.

About The Department of Human Service Programs:
The Department of Human Service Programs (DHSP) creates and coordinates services that enhance the quality of life for Cambridge residents. Driven by the needs of residents, DHSP’s extensive services and programs touch almost every sector in the city: from newborns to senior citizens, from school-aged children to homeless families, from non-profit organizations to local employers.

About The Role:
The Community Engagement Team CET is a multi-agency collaborative under the Community Engagement and Family support Division of the Department of Human Services. CET’s main purpose is to reach out to Cambridge’s underserved, unheard and historically excluded families and connect them to community events and resources. The team is made up of 11 outreach workers who represent the various linguistic communities in Cambridge including the American-born Black Community. 

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

•  Attend all required training sessions.
•  Become familiar with available Cambridge resources that provide children with early literacy exposure.
•  Refer families to early learning services and events that benefit the literacy development of their children.
•  Organize a series of culturally appropriate parenting workshops to underserved families with young children in Cambridge.
•    Participate on advisory boards and/or round table discussions, as assigned, that are addressing issues to reach hard to reach families.
•  Participate in discussions and educate the Community Engagement Team about outreach strategies for building relationships with hard-to-reach communities.
• Complete all required paperwork: document outreach activities and participate as needed in the evaluation of the program.
• Attend all outreach worker team meetings.
• Full participation in the Department of Human Service Programs’ mission to eliminate racism within our department.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

•  Must speak Amharic.
• Sincere desire to reach underserved Cambridge families with young children.
• Ability to relate well with diverse groups and individuals.
• Knowledge of, or willingness to learn about, early learning community resources.
•  High motivation.
•  Strong work ethic.
• Willingness to learn and to teach others.

Experience and/or Education:

• Experience with parenting. 
• Cambridge resident strongly preferred.