Westside Shelter & Hunger Coalition

It’s June in Los Angeles and the members of the Westside Shelter & Hunger Coalition have picked up pace for the summer season.  

The Success Breakfast Committee met early in the month to work on the planning of our Public Education Event, The Celebrating Success Breakfast.  This will be our 15th year honoring formerly homeless clients who have successfully transitioned to housing and work.  Our member agencies are in the process of choosing clients to honor.  (Don’t forget–your nomiations are due on July 15th!)  We are also in the process of finding former honorees– our Success Breakfast Alumni– so that we can provide updates at the Breakfast, and highlight the continued success of these individuals.

The Westside Shelter & Hunger Coalition held its Board of Directors Election in June as well.   Two new members were elected, in addition to the four who were re-elected onto the Board.  To read about our new Board Members, Eleni Manosougiannakis from Venice Family Clinic and Michael Graff-Weisner from Chrysalis, visit our “Contact Us” page.

Near the end of the month the Advocacy Committee held a Training for Direct Service Line Staff and Case Managers.  Thirty-five people from Nineteen different agencies were in attendance to listen to presentations given by representatives from DPSS and St. Joseph Center regarding Food Stamps and Food Stamps outreach, as well as information about the Homeless Court.  It was a great success!  The Development Staff Meet & Greet will take place in July on the 29th.  Any Member Agency Development Staff are welcome to attend. 

WSHC wishes it’s readers an excellent summer!  Please check back for more updates next month.

New Directions, one of our Member Agencies, would like to congratulate the New Directions Choir on their recent televised performance on “America’s Got Talent!”  The Choir consists of current and former residents of New Directions who perform a cappella versions of both popular songs and traditional gospel music. 

Rachel Feldstein, Associate Director at New Directions, had this to say:

“We at New Directions are so proud of the impact our choir made on the TV show ‘America’s Got Talent’ on Tuesday. If you didn’t get a chance to see us, please check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5z-h92h6Ks.  We are all so proud of our alumni and support them with all our heart.”

Follow the link below to view City TV’s segment on the Coalition’s SuperBowl-A-Thon XIV fundraiser, which took place on February 5th, 2010.

SuperBowl-A-Thon XIV

On Thursday, March 25th from 12:00 – 1:30 pm, the Coalition will be holding a special “Meet & Greet” event.  This event is designed for our member agencies’ direct service staff to connect and network with staff at other organizations in our Continuum of Care!  We are inviting 1 – 2 representatives from each agency to attend, and will provide lunch and fun networking activities!  This is a great opportunity for your staff to get to know other direct service providers.  Please note that this event is ideally for staff who did not participate in the October 2009 WSHC Meet & Greet.

RSVP’s are due by March 18 to Piper Kamins.  For more information about this event, contact info@westsideshelter.org. 

To sum up…

Who: 1 – 2 of your line staff members

What: “Meet & Greet” event

When: Thursday, March 25th, 12:00 – 1:30 pm (lunch provided)

Why: To connect and network with partner agency staff

We look forward to seeing your staff there!

The Westside Shelter & Hunger Coalition will be hosting

Project Homeless Connect on Wednesday, February 24th

at the Winter Shelter armory sites in Culver City and West Los Angeles. 

Social service organizations and public agencies will send representatives to these temporary, rainy-season homeless shelters where they will perform outreach, offer services and deliver donations that have been accumulated by local faith organizations. 

This annual event is organized by the Westside Shelter & Hunger Coalition, in conjunction with EIMAGO, the Winter Shelter host organization. 

Project Homeless Connect will take place from 6:00pm to 9:00pm.

Here is another job posting listed by a Westside Shelter & Hunger Coalition Member Agency.  All contact information is listed below!

Associate Director/Head of Programs

St. Joseph Center, a nonprofit, multi-program social service organization serving low income and homeless men, women and children for over 25 years on the Westside, is seeking an Associate Director.  Under the supervision of the Executive Director, the Associate Director will perform the following:

• Oversee and provide management to all St. Joseph Center programs.
• Evaluate current program effectiveness and identify opportunities for program enhancement.
• Identify new opportunities for contract funding and prepare and/or manage applications for public funding.
• Oversee management of ongoing contracts.
• In conjunction with the Chief Financial Officer, facilitate the development of an annual operating budget for the agency.
• Work closely with the Human Resources Manager to develop, articulate and manage HR policies and procedures.
• Represent St. Joseph Center at community meetings within service coalitions and policy forums.
• Provide reports to the Board of Directors regarding program activities and outcomes.

QUALIFICATIONS:  B.A. in social science, public policy or related field.  M.A. preferred.  Five years experience providing management within a social service environment.  Specific experience regarding the implementation of programs within agencies serving populations impacted by homelessness, mental health issues and/or poverty required.

For consideration, please submit resume and cover letter to ghuff@stjosephctr.org or fax 310-392-8402.

Upward Bound House, one of the Westside Shelter & Hunger Coalition’s member agencies, is currently advertising two job opportunities which need to be filled right away!

For more information about Upward Bound House, visit the link on our Membership page.  The job descriptions for the two open positions are below.

JOB TITLE:                           Driver / Assistant

 SUPERVISED BY:                Food Pantry Coordinator

 SUMMARY OF DUTIES:   Reporting to the Food Pantry Coordinator, the Driver / Assistant will ensure reliable regular pick-ups of donations for Upward Bound House’s Food Pantry Programs.  The position will also assist the Food Pantry Coordinator in the general operations of the Food Pantry. Must have recent DMV printout of driving record and proof of own insurance.  This is a part-time position, two hours daily (M-F), with approximate hours 1:30pm-3:30pm. 

 SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE:

• Provide reliable, regular daily food pick ups from food donors;
• Transportation of food to UBH sites;
• Assist with the loading / unloading, stocking, inventorying and distribution of food and supplies.
• Other special projects, as needed.

 QUALIFICATIONS:

Knowledge of working with at risk and/or a challenging population is desired.  Must be a people person, with a great attitude.  Bi-lingual speaker preferred (Spanish / English).  Excellent driving record.

 COMPENSATION:  $11.55 / hour.

 To apply, please submit a resume. Applications should be emailed to maquiano@upwardboundhouse.org    No phone calls please.

Upward Bound House is an equal opportunity employer.

JOB TITLE:                           Food Pantry Assistant

 SUPERVISED BY:                Food Pantry Coordinator

 SUMMARY OF DUTIES:   Reporting to the Food Pantry Coordinator, the Food Pantry Assistant will support the general operations of the Food Pantry and coordination of food services. May also be required to periodically pick up and drop off food and/or supplies Must have a recent DMV printout and proof of own insurance.  Part-time position 4 hours daily (M-F), with approximate hours 4:00 pm-8:00 pm (M-F).

 SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE:

• Prepare and plan monthly menus;
• Daily set-up of prepared meals (evening);
• Oversight of food service, which may involve volunteer coordination;
• Clean up after food service (containers, serving items, tables, floors, kitchen, etc);
• Maintain kitchen and surrounding areas clean (sweeping, mopping, cleaning refrigerator and sanitizing);
• Prepare for and set up morning meals (‘grab-n-go’ continental breakfast);
• Assist with the loading / unloading, stocking, inventorying and distribution;
• Attend on going various trainings (food safety and handling classes);
• Assist in providing educational information regarding basic nutrition to clients;
• Other special projects, as needed.

 Qualifications:

Computer literate, knowledge of Excel helpful. Knowledge of working with at risk and/or a challenging population is also desired.  Must be a people person, with a great attitude.  Bi-lingual speaker preferred (Spanish / English).  Excellent driving record.

 COMPENSATION:  $11.55 / hour.

 To apply, please submit a resume. Applications should be emailed to maquiano@upwardboundhouse.org    No phone calls please.

Upward Bound House is an equal opportunity employer.

Welcome to the Westside Shelter & Hunger Coaltion website.  We are currently under construction, and are trying to deliver the most up-to-date information we have to our readers.  This means that some of our links may not work yet, and some of pages may even be empty!  But please check back with us soon, for we hope to be up and running again before the month is through.  In the meantime, please email any questions you may have to info@westsideshelter.org, or call (310) 314-0071.

Thank you!