Seasonal Youth Program Assistant

General Description:

Youth need nutritious food to grow, learn and thrive. When children and teens don’t have to worry about food, they have the chance to achieve their dreams. Unfortunately, food insecurity among families with children is soaring as a result of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. About 1 in 5 children is food insecure with Black and Latino children nearly twice as likely to face hunger. In the U.S., 17.9% of households with children was food insecure in 2023. In some of these food insecure households, only adults were food insecure; however, in about 1.0 percent (374,000 households), one or more child also experienced reduced food intake and disrupted eating patterns at some time during the year. Hunger can affect a child’s academic performance, increase their health concerns and cause developmental issues

The Food Depository partners with schools and community organizations all year to meet young people where they live, learn and play and to ensure they have the healthy food they need and deserve. The Food Depository directly serves youth through more than 35 Healthy Student Market school-based food access program sites, more than 60 after-school meals (Child and Adult Care Food Program) program sites which distribute more than 370,000 meals annually and more than 250 summer meals (Summer Food Service Program) program sites which distribute more than 440,000 meals annually, including the Lunch Bus mobile summer feeding initiative.  The Food Depository also partners with many local colleges and universities to ensure students of all ages are connected to nutritious food.

Our Youth Program Assistant (temporary) will provide administrative, technical and outreach support for the summer meals program to help ensure children throughout Cook County have access to nutritious meals while school is not in session.

 Key Responsibilities and Essential Functions:

• Travel throughout Cook County to conduct compliance visits, ensuring all program sites are in good standing with the Food Depository, ISBE and USDA’s food service standards.
• Provides administrative and general assistance to Youth Program Coordinator.
• Provides technical assistance and in-person coaching for program sites to support overall program growth and development.
• Complete and maintain accurate documentation of site visits, providing feedback to the Youth Program Coordinator as needed regarding trends and needs of site partners.
• Works to promote summer meals through community outreach efforts.
• Other responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications

• Must have personal transportation with valid license and insurance.
• Must be comfortable working with diverse populations in various Cook County neighborhoods.
• Strong organizational skills with high level of proficiency in MS Office applications, required.
• A high level of verbal, written communication and presentation skills.
• Experience in providing outreach and direct services, preferred.
• Bilingual Spanish, preferred.
• Experience with federal child nutrition programs, preferred.
• The ability to work well with internal departments, varying types of personnel, agency members, partners, donors, clients and the general public.

Exposure:

• Normal office environment; normal agency environment and some exposure to warehouse environment.
• Able to sit at desk, walk, and stand for long periods of time.
• Some evening and weekend work may be required, depending on program site schedules.
• Travel within the city of Chicago and suburban Cook County required. Interacts with Greater Chicago Food Depository staff, program partners, agencies, clients, donors, and general public.

Benefits:

• Health, dental, and vision insurance coverage
• Employer-paid life and disability insurance
• Employee Assistance Program
• 403(b) retirement plan with employer contribution
• Generous paid time off
• Parental leave
• On-site gym
• $3,000 annual employer-paid ThrivePass lifestyle and wellness benefit program
• $250 employee referral bonus