Seasonal Youth Program Assistant

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

Youth need nutritious food to grow, learn and thrive. When children and teens don’t have to worry about food, they have the chance to achieve their dreams. Unfortunately, food insecurity among families with children is soaring as a result of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. About 1 in 3 households with children are now reporting food insecurity, according to an analysis of the COVID-19 Impact study by Northwestern University economists. It’s even worse for Black and Latino households with children, where 4 in 10 households are lacking sufficient food to eat. Hunger, especially when experienced in the early years, can have negative impacts on health, cognitive development, and educational attainment. Childhood hunger is still solvable, even during COVID-19.

The Food Depository partners with schools and community organizations all year to meet young people where they live, learn and play and to ensure they have the healthy food they need and deserve. The Food Depository directly serves youth through more than 35 Healthy Student Market school-based food access program sites, more than 60 after-school meals (Child and Adult Care Food Program) program sites which distribute more than 370,000 meals annually and more than 250 summer meals (Summer Food Service Program) program sites which distribute more than 440,000 meals annually, including the Lunch Bus mobile summer feeding initiative. The Food Depository also partners with many local colleges and universities to ensure students of all ages are connected to nutritious food.

Our Youth Program Assistant (temporary) will provide administrative, technical and outreach support for the summer meals program to help ensure children throughout Cook County have access to nutritious meals while school is not in session.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

· Conducts compliance visits to ensure all program sites are in good standing with the Food Depository, ISBE and USDA’s food service standards.

· Provides administrative and general assistance to Youth Program Coordinator.

· Provides technical assistance and training for program sites to support overall program growth and development.

· Works to promote summer meals through community outreach efforts.

· Other responsibilities as assigned

· Required: Must have personal transportation with valid license and insurance.

· Must be comfortable working with diverse populations in various Cook County neighborhoods.

· Strong organizational skills with high level of proficiency in MS Office applications, required.

· A high level of verbal, written communication and presentation skills.

· Experience in providing outreach and direct services, preferred.

· Bilingual Spanish, preferred.

· Experience with federal child nutrition programs, preferred.

· The ability to work well with internal departments, varying types of personnel, agency members, partners, donors, clients and the general public.

EXPOSURE:

· Normal office environment; normal agency environment and some exposure to warehouse environment.

· Able to sit at desk, walk, and stand for long periods of time.

· Some evening and weekend work may be required, depending on program site schedules.

· At least 85% travel within the city of Chicago and suburban Cook County required. Interacts with Greater Chicago Food Depository staff, program partners, agencies, clients, donors, and general public.