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Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc. is one of the largest human services providers in California that operates a variety of programs to serve the poor and strives to find permanent solutions to crisis situations by offering clients the tools and resources needed to achieve greater self-reliance and stability in their lives.
Catholic Charities operates 18 community centers and ten homeless shelters and also serves the poor with multi-faceted programs, including: after-school child care; immigration, refugee, youth employment and psychological services; homework assistance and tutoring; English as a Second Language (ESL) and General Education diploma (GED) classes for adults; and services for homebound seniors and pregnant and parenting youth. In this way, Catholic Charities maintains a continuum of care for clients as they move from vulnerability to self-sufficiency.
St. Margaret's Center in Lennox is a program of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles is seeking an Urban Agriculture Assistant that will assist with the planning, implementation and maintenance of urban agriculture sites and delivery of nutrition education at multiple locations, within the framework of CalFresh Helathy Living.
CalFresh Healthy Living provides support for healthy lifestyles by implementing produce gardens, food pantries/distribution, nutrition education, access to clean drinking water and physical activities in low-income communities throughout LA County. This integrated approach helps address issues of health equity and emphasizes nutrition education and access to healthy foods as key components in assisting individuals to achieve self-sufficiency and improved health outcomes.
The Urban Agriculture Assistant will assist with establishing and supporting 10-15 gardens in schools and parishes located in underserved communities of Los Angeles, and the nutrition education programs coupled therein. May also assist with outreach and education at other sites and events, such as produce distributions, health fairs, etc.
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
- Utilize environmentally responsible and sustainable organic gardening practices to promote and support the growing of food.
- Assist with design and build-out of gardens, including site prep, construction or assembly of raised and/or in-ground beds, trellising, staking, etc.
- Assist with installation and maintenance of irrigation systems; weekly monitoring of containers, in-ground and raised beds for what needs water, reporting irrigation concerns, and watering by hand as needed.
- Assist with organic integrative pest management, direct seeding, transplanting, fertilizing, tending and harvesting of seasonal food crops.
- Set up and maintain compost bins and worm compost systems to assure they are healthy, do not smell and are productive.
- Maintain tools - clean, sharpen, lubricate, store properly, etc.
- Assist with food prep and cleanup for nutrition education classes, food demos and tastings.
- Administer food behavior surveys to individuals pre- and post-attendance of nutrition classes.
- Assist with community outreach to drive enrollment in nutrition education classes.
- Collect data and photograph gardens/crops; data entry into online system.
- Communicate with supervisor via email, text and phone.
- Adhere to policies to assure safety and security.
Qualifications:
- High School Diploma or GED required
- Two years of mid-scale gardening experience
- Knowledge of permaculture, regenerative agriculture, and organic growing practices
- Able to diagnose plan pests and pathogens and identify appropriate IPM response to manage them
- Must be able to lift, bend, stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl, stand and walk
- Excellent organizational skills
- Professional communication skills- written and verbal
- Must be kind, friendly and outgoing with high level of personal integrity