Intro/Program Description: The Goddard Riverside Community Center (Goddard Riverside) and the Stanley M. Isaacs Center (Isaacs Center) are well-established Manhattan community-based agencies with a combined annual operating budget of approximately $63 million that support services to approximately 30,000 New Yorkers. Goddard Riverside and The Isaacs Center are two of New York City’s leading human services organizations meeting the needs of children, youth and families, homeless individuals, and older adults throughout Manhattan and New York City. Pathways for Youth is an effort to help young adults reach age 24 prepared to be self-sustaining by providing a primary adult support to coach and assist in life planning and navigation over multiple years.

Purpose of Position: The Youth Navigator is responsible for delivering direct and comprehensive developmental services to youth in the Lincoln Square Neighborhood and Upper Westside Communities through intensive outreach and engagement of hard to serve youth ages 14 to 25 to execute pathways to becoming self-sustaining adults by age 25. The position is responsible for ongoing engagement of youth employing a primary person model.

Schedule: 35+ hours per week; While most of the programming is proactively scheduled, there is a need to be available at non-traditional hours to respond to and engage young people. Rotating presence at weekend and evening programming may be instituted as part of the strategy for engagement.

Salary: $50,000

Goddard Riverside and Isaacs Center follow the CDC and NYS recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and are now requiring all new hires to be vaccinated against COVID-19 unless they have a qualified exemption.

1. Outreach and Engagement

• Regular canvasing and outreach throughout the target area

• Build trusting relationships with young people on their own terms and turf with a goal of moving towards engaging them on a meaningful pathway

• Participate in community events to identify and meet youth

• Attend resident and community meetings to build relationships

• Develop and execute activities including community events that create opportunities to engage young people

• Document encounters and develop well detailed plans for maintaining connections with youth

• In partnership with leadership, develop a strategic plan for ongoing outreach

2. Goal-setting, Coaching, and Navigating

• Work in partnership with individual young people to understand challenges, barriers, hopes, and dreams

• Create exposure opportunities that help young people see and experience pathways available to them

• Work with individual young people to develop goals and associated milestones

• Provide necessary supports and resources to reduce barriers to success

• Lead and coordinate small group sessions for mutual aid, positive peer support and relevant topics

• Build a comprehensive resource network necessary to support the needs and aspirations of youth and their families

• Help to build bridges in the family unit that regenerate, sustain, and grow familial supports

• Help young people to develop life skills, tangible skills, and networks of access

• Provide critical information and referrals, and ensure follow-up

• Serve as a caring and consistent mentor and adult in the lives of the young people (goal is mentoring a core group of 30)

• Document interactions and progress

3. Crisis Response

• Respond to emergency situations and crises as needed with guidance from supervisor. This may include hours outside of the traditional workday.

• Recognize and anticipate conditions that will result in a crisis and take steps necessary to avert the crisis

• Build a network that will aid in managing crisis.

4. In collaboration with senior management, engage in activities to support program evaluation

5. Other duties as required

Qualifications/Educational Requirements

• High School Equivalency or diploma preferred

• Experience working in diverse and challenged communities

• Experience working with urban youth

• Familiarity with public housing developments and the conditions of life in public housing, especially Amsterdam Houses and Amsterdam Addition

• Must love and respect young adults and have the necessary balance to encourage them while fostering personal accountability

• Patience, reliability, and ability to provide a consistent and caring presence

• Tolerance for ambiguity and stress and ability to persist through challenges

• Healthy respect for confidentiality

• Ability to engage in self-reflection

• Ability to read and write, and communicate in English

• Bi-lingual Spanish -Preferred but not required

Computer Skills: To perform this job successfully, an individual should be:

• Able to work in the Microsoft Office Suite, should especially be proficient in Word and Outlook

• Able to use or learn other electronic databases, programs, and funder-related software as needed

Physical Requirements

• Walking; Climbing stairs

Work Environment

• Field Work

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of duties and responsibilities that will be required of this position and title and shall not be construed as a declaration of the specific duties and responsibilities of any particular position. Employees may be requested to perform job related task other than those specifically presented in this description. This job description does not constitute an employment agreement between the employer and employee and is subject to change by the employer. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.