Suppertime Meals Development Coordinator

Position Title: Suppertime Meals Development Coordinator

StarkFresh is pleased to announce we have an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer position available through Family & Community Services, Inc.

Organization Information:
StarkFresh is a small, but mighty 501(c )3 nonprofit located in Canton, Ohio and servicing Stark County, Ohio.
Our mission is tackling the causes of hunger by creating realistic pathways out of poverty.
StarkFresh runs Northeast Ohio’s only Mobile Grocery Market, which provides healthy food access to areas throughout the county that are in food apartheid areas and to those with low mobility challenges. This Grocery Store on Wheels takes produce and other groceries into the community where they are sold at a reasonable cost.
Recently, StarkFresh opened Stark County’s only nonprofit Grocery Store, The StarkFresh Grocery Store, located at our Food Justice
Campus on Cherry Ave NE, is just two blocks from the main SARTA bus terminal, making it a convenient and affordable place for people in our community to purchase their grocery necessities.
Some of our other programs include our free Seed Library distribution network and our Urban Training Farm, from our Food Justice
Campus, we operate several programs including Food Incubation Center, shared commercial kitchen and office spaces, mushroom farm, educational programming, food safety programming, nutrient-dense food delivery service and small grocery store. In addition to all of that, StarkFresh is a founder of Courageous Conversations, a group created to explore race inequalities in Canton, and through education and action undo decades of racially motivated policies that have created the wealth gap and exasperated poverty throughout our community.

To find out more about what StarkFresh does, visit us at www.starkfresh.org

Position Summary:
The goal of our Suppertime Meals social enterprise is to continue our mission of tackling causes of hunger by creating realistic pathways out of poverty through offering a delicious, affordable, nutrient-rich meal solution to our community. The meals themselves are ready- to-heat refrigerated meals made from scratch, using fresh ingredients. The meals were designed to be made by people looking for a way out of poverty, through honest, meaningful employment, and to cost under $7. Many of our low-income customers don’t have the cooking literacy or the equipment at home to prepare a meal from scratch and these same individuals tend to suffer from health effects of poverty tied to diet. This program was originally conceived to start with the DD community, and then move to the aging population, while still offering meals to the public. COVID-19 has disrupted this timeline and finds us re-imagining the program to better serve our community post-COVID. The VISTA member will engage in research and development coordination to be able to effectively get this program fully operational. This includes partner, volunteer and funding coordination, and public outreach development which will improve economic opportunities for community members impacted by poverty and hunger. The VISTA member will work alongside
StarkFresh staff, Food incubation Center Coordinator, Retail Food Programming Manager, and other volunteers to develop a cooking literacy program to complement the meal creations. The success of this project is crucial in helping lead the community, through partnerships and volunteers, towards the goal of increasing healthy food access, creating meaningful job opportunities, and impacting the lives of residents through an increase in personal improvement and revenue generation.

Position Functions:

• Analyze prior research to develop a blueprint for a reimagined program
• Review past attempts at DD provider certification and determine steps needed to restart certification attempts
• Research past attempts at Area on Aging meal certification and determine next steps to become provider
• Review previous surveying and legwork done and if determine additional market research needs to be done, develop plan for collecting that information
• Meet with agency partners to make sure of their program needs
• Analyze current agency capacities to determine feasibility of suggested changes

• Research similar post-COVID operations to determine best course of action in program re-development
• Research other businesses and providers throughout the country and their adaptations they had to overcome

• Analyze current community inventory of groups available to be able to partner with in further development
• Meet with other providers and customers to understand operations and needs to better adapt our program

• Coordinate development of a cooking literacy program
• Research other literacy programs throughout the country and analyze them to determine best practices
• Research local potential partners to implement program
• Coordinate program handbook creation to compliment Food Incubation Center training and Grocery Store kitchen usage

• Coordinate development of Suppertime Meals program
• Create relationships with Area Agency on Aging, Stark County DD and other necessary partners
• Research different manuals and SOP guides that can be adapted to create the Suppertime Meals program SOP handbook
• Determine with StarkFresh staff, and agency partners to identify best practices to be used in the creation of a standardized

SOP that breaks down every aspect of the program for ease of duplication and expansion * Coordinate with Stark DD, StarkFresh legal counsel and other agencies to ensure programmatic compatibility so there are no billing concerns when program is rolled out

• Coordinate program roll-out plans
• Develop marketing plan for program roll out with marketing partners and StarkFresh Social Media Coordinator
• Work with StarkFresh staff, agency partners and Food Justice Campus Development Coordinator the ensure on-time program rollout
• Ensure ongoing roll-out follows marketing plan and adapt timeline as needed

The VISTA candidate should possess some college-level education. However, all are welcome to apply because skill sets will supersede education levels.

Skills and/or Experience Qualifications

• Effectively communicates with individuals of diverse backgrounds & enjoy meeting new people
• Effective writing and editing skills & proficient in Microsoft Word and Excel
• Creative ideas, high energy & community organization
• Some level of nutrition education or cooking skills
• Fundraising/grant writing
• Driver’s license and access to reliable transportation
• Must enjoy working outdoors in all types of weather, getting your hands dirty, & having fun
• Minimum age requirement 21 years old

Americorp VISTA benefits

• Monthly cost of living allowance stipend ($1,150 per month)
• End of service stipend/education award (Education stipend $6,345 or Cash $1,800)
• Student Loan deferment (during service year)
• Health care support
• Child care support (varies)
• Housing support (varies

This Americorp VISTA volunteer position starts 5/9 and ends one year later with the possibility of extending service until 2024. This is an extremely flexible schedule position, intended to be full-time, Monday-Friday.
We emphasize results over actual logged hours, so all are invited to apply, regardless of your availability.
Interested candidates must apply for the position on the Americorp website https://my.americorps.gov/mp/listing/viewListing.do?fromSearch=true&id=109618

Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Contract, Temporary

Pay: Up to $1,150.00 per month

Benefits:

• Flexible schedule

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Application Question(s):

• Have you filled out the application on the Americorp site?

Education:

• High school or equivalent (Preferred)

License/Certification:

• Driver's License (Preferred)

Work Location: One location