Project Associate, Co-op Preservation

Urban Homesteading Assistance U-HAB Inc•New York, NY

8h•$0 - $63,388•Hybrid

About The Position

The Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB) is seeking Co-op Preservation Project Associates. The primary function of this role is to work with affordable housing co-op residents to protect and strengthen their housing. The ideal candidate will be passionate about housing justice and eager to learn about affordable cooperative housing models and other related policy issues. Because many of the residents we serve are monolingual Spanish speakers, we are prioritizing English/Spanish bilingual applicants for this position. UHAB empowers low- to moderate-income residents to take control of their housing and enhance communities by creating strong tenant associations and lasting affordable co-ops. Since 1973, UHAB has helped form hundreds of tenant associations and transformed troubled rental buildings into 1,200 affordable co-ops, providing homeownership opportunities for over 25,000 families. With democratic community control at the core of our mission, we work to sustain this thriving affordable housing community for this generation and those to come. We organize residents to be active participants and decision-makers in shaping their neighborhoods. UHAB’s programs address a full spectrum of affordable housing needs: from building resident power and organizing tenants as community leaders, to developing thousands of units of affordable housing across the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, to making small loans to first-time homeowners, to preserving affordable co-ops through training, education, and technical assistance. UHAB’s programs address the needs of future generations through long-term solutions: developing new affordable co-ops, increasing energy efficiency and introducing renewable technologies, and strengthening housing policy. Co-op Preservation staff are a dedicated team that works to support existing low-income housing cooperatives (HDFCs and Mitchell Lamas) and city-owned buildings converting to cooperatives, through technical, organizational, and financial planning assistance, including loan packaging and workouts for distressed housing co-ops. The Training and Technical Assistance contract team give free technical assistance to over 1,300 HDFCs and nearly 80 city-owned buildings undergoing co-op conversion across the city. The Preservation Monitoring team provide contractual compliance assistance to over 200 HDFCs Our Co-op Improvement Program works with building residents of distressed co-ops to create individualized remediation work-out plans. Under our newly acquired Mitchell Lama training and technical assistance contract, Project Associates will work with 37 Michell Lama projects across the city providing Training and Technical assistance.

Requirements

Fluently speak English and Spanish (preferred)
Establish productive trust-based relationships with residents and leaders of limited-equity housing cooperatives
Establish effective professional relationships with real estate professionals, particularly property managers, bank representatives, and government officials
Proficiently use Microsoft Office, especially Excel
Research government regulations and legal documents and interpret them to concerned parties
Express oneself clearly and persuasively in speech and in writing
Work both independently and as part of a team
Maintain positive relationships, even under conditions of some adversity and pressure
Utilize a problem solving/dispute resolution style that favors flexibility and creativity

Nice To Haves

Bilingual preferred

Responsibilities

Provide technical assistance and referrals to a portfolio of HDFC co-ops, city-owned buildings converting to cooperatives or Mitchell lama Cooperatives.
Help boards of directors and shareholders organize effectively to improve the performance of their co-op. Work to identify problems, clarify goals, and implement plans to meet those goals
Attend in-person meetings (often in the evening), in addition to virtual meetings with co-op residents and leaders on an as- needed basis
Monitor and facilitate elections of co-op boards
Provide financial planning support, such as budget creation and loan packaging
Maintain open lines of communication, positive working relationships, and high levels of trust with building leaders and residents
Create reports to enable the organization to track and bill for services provided under the contracts that support our work.
Participate in UHAB wide meetings, committees & activities and contribute to improving and promoting the

Benefits

free and affordable medical and dental plans
long-term disability insurance
a 403b retirement plan
medical and dependent care flexible spending accounts
3 weeks of paid vacation for new employees and 4 weeks of paid vacation after 1 year of employment
13 paid holidays
3 Floating Holidays
12 sick days
8 remote flex days
1 personal day per year