Community Outreach Student

**Friends of Ruby**

Friends of Ruby is dedicated to the journey and well-being of 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, aged 16-29 through mental health services, social services, and housing. Friends of Ruby offers Youth Mental Health services, a Youth Drop-In Centre, and a Transitional Home. The Centre provides access to barrier-free counselling and therapeutic groups, case management and a drop-in space with hot meals, community, and comprehensive programming. The Home provides transitional and emergency housing, as well as mental health and life-skills to support youth moving towards independent living.

Friends of Ruby recognizes that a diverse work force is critical to accomplishing our mission. Our goal is to attract and develop highly talented students and recent graduates from diverse backgrounds, allowing us to benefit from a wide variety of experiences and perspectives.

We strongly encourage applicants from the 2SLGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities, and diverse backgrounds that meet the requirements of the role. We suggest applicants introduce themselves, their stories and lived experiences in their cover letter to the degree they are comfortable with.

**Why Friends of Ruby?**
- A safe space to show up authentically through our workplace culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging
- Gain professional and personal development through engaging assignments with a supportive work environment
- Create positive impact while serving and working alongside the 2SLGBTQIA+ community
- Establish meaningful connections and expand your network in the non-profit sector
- Produce projects and outcomes that motivate, inspire, and drive you

**Position Summary**

We are seeking a Community Outreach Student to coordinate the relationship with members of the community, partner agencies, neighbors and stakeholders, who reports to the Community Engagement Strategic Associate.

The responsibilities include connecting with community members by engaging in community outreach and building networks and partnerships with other service providers in the community.

This role involves building connection with the community surrounding Friends of Ruby spaces, responding to and addressing community concerns, facilitating Community Liaison Committees, providing updates, engaging community members as volunteers or in specific activities at Friends of Ruby’s Transitional House and Drop-In, and attending and participating in community events, either in-person or virtually. It also has an important role in facilitating engagement that is beneficial for the youth after they have left our programs and services.

**Tasks and Responsibilities**
- Connect youth with strength-based support within their larger communities.
- Develop and maintain open and transparent relationships with Service Providers to improve collaborative approach to supporting participants achieve their goals.
- Establish and maintain strong relationships with members of the community and local organizations connected to Friends of Ruby to ensure continuous collaboration and connection.
- Highly professional and articulate with sensitivity, discretion and an appropriate demeanor.
- Coordinate all aspects of Community Outreach projects including scheduling and organizing meetings, taking notes and drafting documents, searching for and organizing information, following-up on work plans, monitoring program cycles and milestones, communicating with and updating the leadership team and other stakeholders as appropriate.
- Identify and assess suppliers and partners needed for specific programs and activities, negotiating agreement terms to address internal needs, and supporting engagement to ensure efficient and effective project delivery.
- Engage with local political representatives, be a liaison with the police, other community engagement representatives, and other key stakeholders.
- Connect with local activities that can be beneficial to the youth at Friends of Ruby.
- Oversee the relationship with the neighborhood, manage requests and conflicts, recognize and provide appropriate intervention as needed, addressing conflict directly and respectfully and inform Managers at the earliest point regarding potential safety or escalation concerns.
- Report all disturbances and emergencies to the supervisor; complete incident reports as needed.
- Develop positive relationships with community groups, neighbors and resources in the larger community.
- Seek opportunities to be involved in and contribute to Shelter and Housing Networks, Drop-In Networks and other service providers in the Community and the City of Toronto.

**Qualifications and Experiences**
- 0-2 years’ work experience in outreach in housing or social services.
- Degree or Diploma in a relevant field or discipline (Social Work, Social Services, Community Worker) and/or comparable work experience.
- Adapt/learn new processes and demonstrate flexibility if moved from one process to another.
- Strong ability to demonstrate t