Real Change is looking for responsible, committed people to help us fulfill our mission of organizing, educating, and building alliances to create solutions to homelessness and poverty. We exist to provide a voice to poor people in our community, and rely on volunteers and interns to keep the paper and our other programs operational. Experience with the homeless/poor is helpful, but not required.

VOLUNTEERING
Real Change needs help from volunteers in a variety of different ways. We need volunteers to write and photograph for our paper, volunteers to help out in the office, volunteers to work with our vendors and many more. Please see below for our current volunteer opportunities.

INTERNSHIPS
Real Change offers a limited number of unpaid internships in reporting, photography, editorial assistance, office and vendor program assistance and outreach. To download our intern position descriptions, please see below.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Vendor Services: Field Organizer
Job Description: The Field Organizer works with the vendor support team to provide training, assistance, and support to the approximately 300 homeless or low-income Real Change vendors that sell the newspaper each month. This position works directly with our vendors to identify opportunities for success, assist in problem solving and conflict management, and work with the community to expand vendor opportunities and build public support of our mission.
Real Change has provided a voice and opportunity to homeless and very low-income people for almost fifteen years. We’re looking now for a committed and compassionate staff person who is excited by the possibility of cross-class organizing and helping people experiencing poverty meet their own goals, sell the paper successfully, and advocate on the city and local level.
The Field Organizer would work closely with a team of other staff to train interested people in selling the newspaper, settle conflicts and complaints in the office and in the field, assist interested people in accessing services and resources, and involve people in state and local advocacy around issues of homelessness and poverty.
People who have experienced homelessness are strongly encouraged to apply.
Compensation and Details: This is a part time position at 24 hours a week, hours to take place roughly Monday through Friday between 9am and 6pm. Work would take place at the Real Change office in Belltown and could involve some time visiting and working with vendors selling in and around Seattle. Pay is $13.50/hr, with health and dental benefits after 90 days.
We are hiring for two of these positions at this time, one to begin in late August and one to begin in early October. Applications for either start date will be accepted through August 21st, 2008.
To Apply: Download and fill out our Diversity Form, and complete a cover letter and resume. Send your materials via e-mail to Molly Watson at mollyw@realchangenews.org, or drop them off at our office in Belltown. If you have any questions about the position, please contact Danina Garcia at 206-441-3247 x.211, or e-mail her at daninag@realchangenews.org.
We look forward to hearing from you!

 

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

You can download and print an application here: Download Volunteer Application

OFFICE VOLUNTEERING POSITIONS

Vendor Services Representative
Job Description: A Vendor Services Representative assists homeless/poor Real Change vendors when they come into the office, and acts as receptionist for our small Belltown office. Your specific duties would include: interacting with vendors, cashiering, minor data entry, explaining and enforcing vendor rules, answering the phone, and light office tasks such as typing, filing, and preparing mailings. We want vendors and other program members to feel welcome and safe when they come into the Real Change office, as often times this is the one place they are treated with dignity. This is a chance for you to meet and interact with a variety of people who are poor/homeless, and learn to understand the importance of creating more advocacy and opportunity for the low-income and homeless community.
Skills Required: We require all volunteers to be reliable, responsible, mature, friendly, and patient. You must be familiar with computers (experience with Mac OS X helpful).
Hours: This position requires you to be able to volunteer for one four-hour shift per week, between 9am-6pm weekdays for at least 10 weeks.

Subscriptions/Mailings
Real Change regularly needs help with mailings. This mainly involves helping stuff, stamp, label and seal envelopes. If you're interested in helping, simply contact the volunteer coordinator and we will put you on our mailing help contact list.

Phonebanking
We occasionally need people with a good phone manner to help us encourage people to attend advocacy events Real Change is sponsoring or involved with. We provide phones and a script. Phone banking generally happens in the evenings during the week.

EDITORIAL VOLUNTEERING POSITIONS

Book Reviewer
Real Change needs reading enthusiasts to write book reviews for our paper. We expect an ongoing commitment to write high-quality 600-word reviews on a monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly basis. To be accepted, please fill out a volunteer application and send a sample of your work that demonstrates strong essay or non-fiction writing skills.

OUTREACH VOLUNTEERING POSITIONS

Special Events
Help promote and create awareness about Real Change. On occasion we are invited to community events/fairs and are looking for volunteers who are interested in helping represent Real Change. This would be a pretty low time commitment and can be a really fun opportunity.

Outreach Advocate
You like the work that Real Change does and you wish that more people were aware of it. You’ve always wanted to volunteer with Real Change but weren’t able to make a weekly commitment, or you’re only available nights and weekends. Does this sound familiar? Well, we’ve got an opportunity for you! Real Change is looking for some Outreach Advocates to spend a couple of hours tabling at events and in target neighborhoods to increase awareness of Real Change and issues of poverty and homelessness. This involves a brief training/orientation at the main office, picking up brochures and materials and being matched up with another volunteer or one of our vendors. Tabling will focus on raising awareness of the mission and programs of Real Change, as well as specific actions supporters can take, such as signing up for the email list or contacting local representatives.

INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

The following internship descriptions are in downloadable in PDF format and can be viewed using Adobe Reader. Download Adobe Reader here.

Reporting Internship (download)
Editorial Assistant Internship (download)
Online Editorial Assistant Internship (download)
Office and Vendor Program Assistant Internship (download)

For more information about volunteering or internships, please contact Polly Jirkovsky, Volunteer Coordinator,
via email: volunteer@realchangenews.org or phone: (206) 441-3247 ext.212

Updated February 3, 2008