Position Available: Program Assistant- READY Program

Position Available:           Program Assistant, READY Program
Location:                            Akron, Ohio
Pay Rate:                            negotiable (based on qualifications) – this is a part time position

If you are interested, please email your resume with a cover letter to mvue@asiaohio.org. Please do not call us. Thank you.

Asian Services In Action (ASIA) is a growing non-profit multi-service agency with two sites (Akron and Cleveland) serving predominantly low-income, underserved, limited English-speaking Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) immigrant and refugee populations of all ages. Our mission is to empower AAPIs in Northeast Ohio to enhance their well-being, build their communities and to improve their self-sufficiency through culturally and linguistically relevant information and services.

ASIA is offering a part-time position for a flexible, energetic individual to work in community outreach with the READY Program. The READY Program addresses the specific problem / population of low development of English language proficiency skills for refugee children ages (infant to five) learning English where English is not their primary language. The program serves 10-12 families mainly from the Nepalese, Mon, Burmese and Karen community (refugees from Myanmar who are considered a “high need” emerging population in Summit County). The READY Program addresses the challenges confronted by preschool-aged refugee children whose families and caregivers have limited English proficiency.

To help families help their children prepare for school, READY has a Parent Educator, Ms. Heather Morris, conducting personalized monthly home visits, providing referral to resources, coordinating language interpretation as needed by a part time community outreach contractor, and two monthly community parent/child group meetings.

In addition to the broad challenges faced by our families, there are also practical problems.  For example, some families who wish to attend Community Group meetings do not have transportation. Evening meetings often conflicted around late work schedules, dinner preparations and the child’s care schedule. At this time there is a need for an assistant to be selected to help the Parent Educator. The duties for the Program Assistant position are part time and are described below.

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Assist the Parent Educator of the READY Program in developing incentives for attendance of the parent’s community group meeting.
2. The candidate must be qualified as a person eligible to drive children and parents to and from their residence to community group meetings in ASIA’s van. (Drivers license with insurance as well as a criminal record check to work with children). No more than two meetings per month will be planed. Dates are to be coordinated in advance by the Parent Educator. The time period to pick up, attend the meeting and return clients is about three and a half hours per meeting.
3. Help the Parent Educator in monitoring the organization of games and instruction exercises during a community group meeting of parents and their children.
4. Help set up any meeting room facilitation needs.
5. Help coordinate meeting information with an interpreter who may interpret at meetings and or schedule families to come to meetings.
6. Assist the parent Educator in community outreach activities where programs can be attended by parents and children in lieu of a group meeting.
7. Identify and attend community cultural events to provide resource and information
8. Confer with ASIA program staff to understand programs and service
9. Keep track of participant and attendance records and provide timely activity reports to the supervisor.
10.  Other duties as assigned by the supervisor

Qualifications:

* Good interpersonal skills and ability to interact with diverse population/personalities.
* Resourceful and flexible
* Available to work evenings and weekends as needed
* Oral communication skills
* Ability to set priorities and meet deadlines.
* Ability to work well autonomously and in a team.
* A strong interest in Asian American community and human services a plus.
* Asian language proficiency a plus
* Access to transportation with valid driver’s license required.

General Information

Flexible scheduling, 10-15 per month (more during peak event time).

If you are interested, please email your resume with a cover letter to mvue@asiaohio.org. Please do not call us. Thank you.