This note is from Jessie Houff, who reports there is an opening in the project hosting her Brethren Volunteer Service assignment: “I wanted to share this with my home church to see if anyone had any connections to people who would be interested in this job. I’ve attached the Job Announcement. I’m just spreading this to anyone who might know someone or who would just pass along this info for anyone who might be interested.”
Youth Economic Education Coordinator
Position Opening
Upstate New York
August 2014
An emerging youth cooperative in the Catskills is looking for an experienced full-time Coordinator to help them expand their Program and business.
For the past three years a group of remarkable rural high school students have worked to create their own Program, the Youth Economic Group (YEG.) In turn, they have also created their own Cooperative business Basement Bags which designs, silk screens, and sells fair-trade-sourced tote bags and t-shirts, which advocate social and economic justice. They need a full-time Coordinator who, in the words of one member, “has ambition!” They have achieved a great deal during the past three years, and they are now ready to expand YEG and Basement Bags. The members are incredible and their efforts are unique. We are looking for a Coordinator who has the determination and skills to help this Program scale and become one of the most prominent youth-driven cooperative efforts in the United States. Most importantly we are looking for someone who sees her/himself as both an educator and a leader.
It is a challenging task. YEG is located in an isolated rural area in the beautiful Catskills of New York State, about 90 miles from NYC. Our county is one of the poorest in NYS, and there are few resources and a lack of economic opportunities. This is why we created YEG and Basement Bags – to create opportunities! The members of the Group are very diverse and face many challenges as well.
The program is a part of Rural & Migrant Ministry (RMM.) Founded in 1981, RMM is a state-wide organization that stands as a committed ally with those who work for justice in the rural and farmworker communities of New York State, with a primary focus on developing leadership skills and opportunity for youth. Our Mission Statement lays out our focus clearly and succinctly:
Rural & Migrant Ministry works for the creation of a just, rural New York State by: nurturing leadership; standing with the disenfranchised, especially farmworkers, rural workers and their families; and changing unjust systems and structures
You can find out more about us, by visiting our web-site: www.ruralmigrantministry.org