Youth Ambassadors Sought for Homeless Count

Positions are available for youth ambassadors to assist with planning and outreach efforts for Youth Reach Maryland 2020.

Youth REACH MD — Reach out, Engage, Assist, and Count to end Homelessness — is Maryland’s effort to better understand the number, characteristics, and needs of youth and young adults who are on their own and struggling with housing to improve the ways they can be helped.

A youth ambassador will be assigned, one per Southern Maryland county.

The Youth REACH count for Southern Maryland will occur from Sunday, March 8, to Saturday, March 21, 2020.

Planning for the county has already begun. Youth input will make Youth REACH successful and separates it from other counts. Unaccompanied homeless youth are a “hidden population” that can be hard to locate.

Initial eligibility/requirements:

• Youth or young adults ages 18 to 24 with experience of homelessness and housing instability. No more than three ambassadors will be hired for this internship.

Primary description of duties:

• Participate in identification of places youth are likely to frequent.
• Mapping routes for survey administration.
• Assist with social media posts.
• Administer Youth REACH surveys.
• Develop marketing materials and strategies.
• Assist with street outreach at varying times of the day, to include some evenings and weekends.
• Select survey participation incentives.
• Promote the count in their communities.
• Attend planning and strategic meetings with the Continuum of Care’s Homeless Youth Sub-Committee.
• Work alongside a mentor to assist with their assignments.

Youth ambassadors will receive a stipend of $450 for approximately 30 hours of time commitment. They will receive experience in community advocacy, street outreach, and planning. No other benefits will be provided. Persons are able to include such experience on their resumes and may be able to receive references for future career opportunities.

Those interested must complete a short, written application, as well as provide no more than a 90-second video of why they feel they are the best candidate for the position.

For more information or to submit an application, contact Corae Young, Continuum of Care chairwoman, [email protected], at 301-609-9900, ext. 214. The deadline to apply is Wednesday, February 5. Those selected must pass a background check as part of application process. It can also include a potential in-person or phone interview.

To learn more about Lexington Park, visit the St. Mary’s County Community Development Corporation’s Leader member page.

St. Mary’s County Community Development Corporation

46940 South Shangri-La Drive, Suite 7

Lexington Park, MD 20653

301-863-7700