Welfare Rights Organizer

The Safety Net Project (SNP) is one of nine independent projects at the Urban Justice Center. SNP provides direct legal and social services in the area of public benefits access, homelessness, and tenant rights, in addition to engaging in policy advocacy and community organizing led by impacted community members (the Safety Net Activists). SNP is one of NYC’s Right to Counsel providers defending tenants facing eviction and is also active in various grassroots organizing campaigns fighting for housing rights.

SNP seeks applicants for a Welfare Rights Organizer position which will focus on organizing with SNP’s member-base of public benefits and welfare recipients, known as the Safety Net Activists (“SNA”). The organizer will also facilitate building up the goals and organizing aspirations of the SNA, hold a meeting space for the SNA on a bi-monthly basis, connect individuals with SNP’s public benefits organizing work, and support the SNA and SNP staff to participate in and lead grassroots organizing campaigns relating to welfare rights.

The Welfare Rights Organizer is part of SNP’s Benefits and Homeless Advocacy Unit, which provides legal and social services to New Yorkers facing issues accessing public benefits and New Yorkers who are homeless, and does grassroots organizing and policy work on these issues.

Primary Responsibilities

• In partnership with the Safety Net Activists, identify key issues and systems-level problems that people are experiencing with public benefits and welfare rights;
• Work directly with the Safety Net Activists to develop and execute grassroots campaigns to systemically improve public benefits access, including supporting them to organize and participate in direct actions, advocacy, coalition spaces, and other grassroots organizing efforts.
• Work to develop the skills, capacity and analysis of our member base through informal and formal leadership development work;
• Engage New Yorkers experiencing issues with public benefits system across the city to learn about their experiences, built relationships, and provide ‘Know Your Rights’ and public benefits information as needed;
• Develop and maintain relationships with current and prospective SNA members or clients, specifically individuals who need public benefits, or are having issues with public benefits;
• Develop and post original content and share other relevant content on SNP’s social media accounts to further SNP’s organizing and policy campaigns focusing on public benefits and welfare rights, including KYR materials;
• Attend actions and community meetings relevant to the public benefits work of SNP, and support attendance by members.

Qualifications

• At least two years of community organizing experience, in a professional or volunteer role. This should include experience with facilitating membership meetings, training and developing leaders, developing and implementing campaign plans, and doing base building and outreach;
• A deep commitment to racial justice and welfare rights work and a strong anti-oppression and social justice analysis and lens;
• Strong interpersonal, relationship-building, and conflict-resolution skills with persons of diverse backgrounds;
• Strong organizational and time-management skills;
• Proficiency with technology, including the ability to use the internet, email, word processing (e.g. Microsoft Word), social media, Canva, and spreadsheets (e.g., Excel);
• Experience with homeless outreach preferred, either in a professional or volunteer role; 
• Conversational Spanish, French, or another community language is a plus.

A competitive salary based on experience and an excellent benefits package is available, with generous vacation, personal, and sick time, along with industry-leading medical and dental coverage. The annual salary range for this position is between $58,545 and $81,262, depending on experience. This is a bargaining unit position represented for collective bargaining purposes by the National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW, Local 2320. Subject to work needs, the Safety Net Project also offers flexible hours and hybrid work options.

The Safety Net Project is an equal-opportunity employer. SNP encourages applications from people with diverse backgrounds, including women, people of color, immigrants, domestic violence survivors, people with disabilities, LGBTQI+ people, people from low-income backgrounds, and people with personal experience with the criminal justice system. We strongly encourage applications from people with lived experiences in the communities we serve, of homelessness or housing instability, or of the benefits system.