MEMBERSHIP SUPPORT SPECIALIST

Membership Support Specialist

Tenant Organizing & Advocacy Portland, Oregon Minimum Experience Entry-level Compensation $21 / hour Key Responsibilities : The Community Alliance of Tenants (CAT) is seeking an engaging, self-directed and dynamic individual who is passionate about housing justice and empowering tenants through tenant education and organizing.

This position will be primarily responsible for membership support and coordination with some tenant education and tenant organizing.

As a social justice organization dedicated to dismantling systems of oppression as it relates to housing justice, the ideal candidate is an advocate at heart who has the desire to support the spread of tenant rights knowledge through community education.

This position is 40 hours a week and reports to the Organizing and Advocacy Director. Hourly wage is $18-20, and includes full medical and dental coverage, paid holidays and personal leave.

This position is based out of Multnomah County. About CAT : Community Alliance of Tenants (CAT) has spent the last 24 years building a housing justice movement led by renters.

We are a membership-driven organization taking great pride in educating and empowering one another to demand safe, stable, and affordable housing.

CAT is building a strong housing justice movement that is led and directed by those who are most impacted by Oregons affordable housing crisis- low-income tenants, predominately low-wage workers, families with children, people living with disabilities, seniors, Black, Indigenous and people of color.

We use a three-pronged approach to Tenant Power : Tenant Education, Tenant Organizing, and Tenant Advocacy. We operate an educational hotline run by staff and volunteers walking callers through their rights and responsibilities one-on-one.

We host dozens of community workshops each year and connect with each other through a deep network of community partners and service providers to meet various needs as they arise.

We organize our friends, families and neighbors in our buildings and on the streets to build a culturally-humble, equity-driven, intersectional housing justice movement led by those of us who are most-impacted by housing injustices.

We support the leadership and learning of our fellow housing advocates building on our shared experiences and knowledge.

Finally, we learn from and represent one another on councils, boards, and civic engagement opportunities throughout the state for long-range systems change.

BIPOC, Women, LGBTQ, Two Spirit, low-income, and rural renters are encouraged to apply to all of our open positions.

• Support the Membership Manager in helping members apply for and receive rental assistance.
• Support the Membership Manager to coordinate member projects or volunteer tasks.
• Support the training of members or volunteers.
• Support linking members to housing, legal, food, technology, utility assistance and other resources.
• Support membership coordination and communication through large and small meetings, events and other means.
• Planning resources needed at community events such as live hotline consultations
• Volunteer coordination
• Support and coordinate with Tenant Leadership Council (TLC) members
• Other tasks as needed
• Excellent writing, listening, communication, organizational and interpersonal skills
• Highly organized and detail oriented
• Self-directed, with the ability to work independently and in a team environment
• Comfort and experience leading and presenting information in large and small groups
• Belief and commitment to social justice, structural change and restorative justice
• Ability to listen, empathize and problem solve with people in crisis on the phone and in-person
• Knowledge of both Windows and Mac operating systems
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office and Google collaboration products
• Ability to learn and use database systems (web-based CRM database and Service Point HMIS)
• Brings empathy, passion and humor to the work
• Willingness to challenge oppression in all aspects of work
• Enjoys working with diverse populations
• Ability to travel in local region and occasionally to other areas of the state
• Reliable means of transportation and ability to transport workshop / event materials (if / when it is safe for staff to attend public events)
• This position requires regularly working on weekends and / or evenings. Events are often on weekends and evenings to ensure accessibility to community members.
• Open to and committed to active engagement towards the eradication of anti-Black racism.
• Fluency in another language (Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic, Russian or other)
• Lived experience and / or understanding of race-based disparities
• Experience centering BIPOC communities most harmed by the housings crisis
• Familiarity with or interest in Renters Rights and Tenant Advocacy
• Experience public speaking and / or providing training / workshops
• Familiarity with Landlord-Tenant Law
• Experience working with immigrants and refugees
• Experience working at a call center or a social service agency
• Lived experience with housing instability
• Project Management
• Social Service work
• Experience with addressing the needs of low income tenants in rural Oregon (probably could be tweaked better)

Location Portland, Oregon Minimum Experience Entry-level Compensation $21 / hour