Civil Action Practice / Community Engagement, Housing Organizer na The Bronx Defenders

The Bronx Defenders (BxD) is an innovative, progressive public defense office in the South Bronx. We are seeking a passionate advocate with a commitment to social justice to be a Housing Organizer.  

Founded in 1997, BxD is a public defender nonprofit that has developed a nationally recognized model of representation called holistic defense, which provides people with teams of lawyers, social workers, and advocates to defend them zealously in court and address the underlying drivers and enmeshed penalties of legal system involvement. 

Our office now has more than 400 staff members who defend nearly 20,000 New Yorkers facing incarceration, family separation, eviction, and deportation (among other devastating consequences) in criminal, family, civil, and immigration proceedings each year. 

We continue reimagining the role of public defense even further, using community organizing and engagement, legislative advocacy, and impact litigation to partner with the communities we represent to bring about long-lasting systemic change. We also share our model and lessons learned on how to move to a holistic model of representation with current and future public defenders throughout the country. 

Civil Action 

A sweeping array of civil punishments are triggered the moment someone faces arrest, deportation, or family separation. The people we represent risk losing their jobs, homes, income, property, and basic civil rights—struggles   that can be more devastating and long-lasting than the charges themselves. Last year, we helped 2,200 people obtain concrete benefits like maintaining their jobs, homes, income, property, and rights. 

Civil Holistic Defense Team  

Our goal is to minimize the severe and often unforeseen fallout from criminal, family and immigration court proceedings and facilitate the seamless reintegration of the people we represent into the community. Our CAP attorneys, advocates, and social workers represent and advocate for impacted people in every forum in New York City—administrative, state, and federal—to address these problems. Our civil staff provide comprehensive representation to assist in overcoming civil legal barriers to housing, eviction, employment, and public benefits, as well as addressing instances of police misconduct, criminal record errors, and civil forfeiture.   

Housing Justice and the Right to Counsel Team  

Recognizing the challenges to accessing affordable, quality, and safe housing in New York City, The Bronx Defenders has a team exclusively dedicated to providing tenants at risk of losing their homes with defense attorneys for their Housing Court cases. Our Housing Team was developed in response to the 2017 New York City Right-to-Counsel Law, which provides tenants facing eviction in Housing Court and New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) administrative proceedings with access to free legal representation.    

Community Intake Team 

The Bronx Defenders has Community Intake advocates across all practices which allows members of the Bronx community to walk into our office or call our community hotlines and proactively seek legal assistance with criminal, family, immigration, and civil legal issues. The CAP Housing Organizer will provide early intervention; assistance in navigating evictions, repairs, and housing problems that impact housing access, quality, and stability; and high-quality and referrals for hundreds of community members each year. Intervention at this early stage helps people address housing issues before they spiral into crises and avoid housing displacement. 

The CAP/Community Engagement Housing Organizer is a new role created in response to the organization’s commitment to broadening our housing advocacy in the Bronx community. This role requires someone with a deep connection to the Bronx community who can help shape The Bronx Defenders’ reach to advance housing justice in the Bronx. Reporting to the Director of Community Engagement, this role will work closely with the Managing Director of the Civil Action Practice, the Director of the Right to Counsel Housing Team, including the Community Intake Housing Attorney, to provide information, support, advocacy, and education in the Bronx Community. 

Responsibilities 

• Provide direct services to new clients, community members including intake, assessment, referral case closing forms, and follow-up 

• Support the Housing Hotline 

• Conduct door-to-door home outreach to engage and inform tenants about their housing rights and resources available to help protect them 

• Work with attorneys to coordinate tenants’ housing court cases, including facilitating communication with tenants about case updates and issues 

• Engage community coalitions, advocates, and public officials in dialogue about pervasive displacement pressures/concerns and tenant harassment practices affecting low-income tenants in the Bronx 

• Conduct and facilitate regular workshops/trainings specific to housing rights, responsibilities, laws and processes, and know-your-rights tenant workshops, community presentations, and educational seminars to residents, community organizations, grassroots coalitions, faith-based organizations, affordable housing advocates, public agencies, and other local stakeholders 

• Post and distribute widely a broad array of informational materials that help inform tenants of their rights and protections under city, state, and federal housing laws as well as local community resources available to assist them with housing issues and securing government assistance 

• Travel outside of the office to various areas of the Bronx to attend meetings, community events and conduct community outreach with community partners and BxD staff to support all aspects of forming and maintaining tenant associations and community coalitions 

• Participate in weekly housing team and CAP meetings to develop plans to meet grant requirements and discuss systemic issues and policies that affect clients and communities  

• Participate in community meetings to provide outreach and information about organization services/create community events and clinics; attend meetings with community-based organizations that are stakeholders in social justice and community organizing work to network, build relationships, understand community issues and identify possible areas for collaborations  

• Organize meetings with tenants/tenant associations and attorneys 

• Support reports and provide metrics to support legal work and fundraising  

• Other related duties as required 

To be eligible for this position, candidates must have: 
  

• A minimum of 2 years of directly relevant experience either working with community-based non-profit organizations or supporting local grassroots efforts to advance housing justice 

• Spanish fluency (validated objectively), preferred but not required 

• Passion for housing justice, holistic public defense, racial justice, and work on behalf of racially and economically marginalized communities 

• Strong understanding of the issues affecting the Bronx community 

• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to effectively communicate and collaborate with individuals from diverse backgrounds, local organizations, and people in crisis 

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills as demonstrated in formal correspondence and oral presentations; bi-lingual English/Spanish preferred 

• Proficiency with MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and other standard data management systems required, related certifications a plus 

• Skilled in facilitating meetings and leading workshops 

• Must be able to work strategically within a team structure as well as independently, multi-task, work under tight deadlines, manage multiple projects simultaneously, and follow through on tasks in a timely manner 

• Dependability, excellent time management, and superior organizational skills   

• Ability to navigate high-volume internal and external communications 

• Ability to think critically and creatively in fast-paced settings, finding innovative solutions to unique obstacles 

• Ability to receive constructive feedback, demonstrate introspection, and shift behavior accordingly 

• Ability to exercise excellent judgment, discretion, and confidentiality with sensitive matters 

• Prior community organizing experience is preferred but not required 
  

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