Assistant Director of Community Impact

The Hand, Heart, Soul Project (HHSP) promote healthy habits for our earliest learners in Clayton County. We provide children and families access to nutrient-dense foods and we develop holistic programs focused on health, wellness, education, and nutrition. Our mission is to nurture, celebrate, and advance the needs of the people we serve by creating equitable access to quality educational, nutritional, and community resources.

Hand, Heart, and Soul Project's work is highly interdisciplinary. It sits at the intersection of education, health, wellness, and advocacy while ensuring those most affected by the policy are in decision-making spaces. Our model is one of collective impact that focuses on cross-collaboration which aligns community members, leaders, organizations, and institutions to go beyond sustainable solutions, but thriving and meaningful solutions.

About the role: The Assistant Director of Community impact oversees food access and the implementation of farm stands, mobile markets and community gardens at sites and throughout communities. The Director supports operation of these gardens at schools, early learning centers and throughout the community and seeks the implementation and access to additional land for growing food. Procurement with local farmers for farm stand sales and other programming is also essential. This position is familiar with the Oldways cooking program, which is a SnapEd approved curriculum. The Assistant Director works collaboratively with the other HHSP staff members to create and implement programming and works with the staff of early childcare centers to ensure that programs are fully integrated. The position reports to the Executive Director.

The Assistant Director will also fully implement and lead all aspects of the Farm Stand program including marketing, farm stand coordination and day of operations, and collaborating with partner and host sites.

The Assistant Director of Community Impact Access will:

• Ensure collaboration with Director of Programs and Initiatives among Clayton Collective with Snap-Ed deliverables surrounding growing food

• Oversee direct reports of community organizing, including formulating work plans

Develop and facilitate classes and community workshops Oversee food distributions, in collaboration with team members Support and sometimes lead community events

• Serve as a lead on USDA grants for coordination on deliverables with team

• Expand this farm stand/pop up farm stand model to other ECE sites and schools in Clayton County by helping other programs develop their own markets.

• Expand Unity Farm Stand to additional sites throughout Clayton County

• Ensure the Clayton Collective gardens are maintained in collaboration with contractors or independently. This includes working with ECE sites to ensure gardens are watered and maintained throughout the year, in between TA visits and that sites have garden plans, signs are in the garden beds.

• Increase attendance at all farm stands and EBT sale transactions through Unity Farm Stand

• Conduct regular evaluations to assess program effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.

• Work alongside key staff members on the development of Hand, Heart, and Soul Project’s mobile market

• Implement community gardens in additional spaces across Clayton County, access to additional space to grow food is critical

• Maintain the Jonesboro Community Garden plots

• Develop community programming at the Jonesboro Community Garden

• Attend all meetings as scheduled by the Jonesboro Community Garden liaison including garden clean ups and monthly meeting

• Unity Farm Stand and Market maintains a presence at the Jonesboro Farmers Market during market season.

Support programs individuals and families eligible for SNAP benefits. Integrate wellness initiatives into existing programs and services throughout Clayton including access to healthier food through food distributions, working in partnership with team members

• Design and implement outreach strategies to engage the target population eligible for SNAP benefits

• Maintain our community spaces and equipment in good working order, including tool shed, greenhouse, irrigation system, and tools at Jonesboro Community Garden, school sites, and ECE sites.

• Ensure timely submission of necessary reports

Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

Education and Work Experience

• Prior teaching experience preferred.

• Prior gardening or cooking experience is preferred.

• Experience working in an urban school setting is preferred.

• Strong commitment to a teaching philosophy that values students, is adaptive to different learning styles, and empowers students to become active participants in their schools and communities.

• A demonstrated commitment to an organizational culture that supports diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Physical Requirements and Working Conditions:

• Collaborative and committed to working in a small team environment.

• Organized, energetic, and flexible.

• Driver’s License is required

• Ability to work with frequent interruption and to simultaneously supervise a variety of tasks.

• Ability to stand, stoop, reach and bend. Mobility of arms to reach and dexterity of hands to grasp and manipulate large and small objects.

• Ability to stand for long periods.

• Ability to lift, push, and/or pull objects which may be approximately 50 pounds.

• Ability to work with and in the proximity of equipment with moving mechanical parts.

• Ability to work outdoors and tolerate varying weather conditions.

• Willingness to smell, taste, and feel, to determine the quality of raw food products.

• May be required to work around loud noise.

• Support garden events and activities, including community Farm Stands and food distribution, and special events as needed.

• Participate in HHSP staff meetings, staff development days, and program development meetings for all Snap-Ed and HHSP events. Collaboration on annual and seasonal programming events as necessary

• Accurately track programming information in online databases on a weekly basis

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $55,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift

Ability to Relocate:

• Jonesboro, GA 30236: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person

Salary : $55,000