Farm Park Education Coordinator and Assistant Farm Manager Rio Grande Farm Park (MVS Program)

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Recruiting Organization: Mennonite Mission Network

Put your faith into practice with Mennonite Voluntary Service (MVS). Join an intentional community with peers, serve with a local nonprofit, and plug into the local congregation. Placements include social or health services, education, immigration law, restorative justice, business and more.

Receive room and board, health insurance, student loan assistance, and a stipend. MVS units are in Alamosa, Colorado; Tucson, Arizona; and San Francisco, California.

Located in the San Luis Valley of southcentral Colorado, the Rio Grande Farm Park is a project of the San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition. The development and operation of the Park are overseen by the Park Director, in coordination with the Farm Manager. There are a variety of tasks needed to assist the Park Director, as well as the Farm Manager, from administrative tasks such as helping to coordinate meetings, fundraisers and educational events, to getting hands dirty with Park workdays and land use projects. A key responsibility is to assemble and coordinate an environmental ed program for youth from area schools and local youth programs such as the Boys and Girls Club. Among other duties, volunteers are encouraged to initiate a project near to their heart to capstone their time at the Farm Park. While much of the work can be done during normal weekday hours, flexibility will be needed for projects that entail some evening and weekend events.

This is a newer project with a strong community buy-in and local volunteer base. This link ( http://www.westword.com/news/how-alamosas-garden-plot-got-paved-over-5122609) describes how the community rallied to acquire the Park and put it under a conservation easement. The Farm Park practices regenerative agriculture and permaculture, with attention to soil health, composting and poly-cropping. Beekeeping, bats, orchards, and flood irrigation from the Rio Grande through the traditional acequia ditch system are all integral pieces of the Park. Plots for both family gardening and a Farmer Incubation program are provided, with the initial producers drawn primarily from indigenous Guatemalan farmers who fled here as refugees and can again grow traditional Mayan food crops. The presence and inspiration of the Mayan community has made the Park a symbol of safe and inclusive community space. Additionally, the Park is adjacent to the Rio Grande, just 4-blocks from downtown Alamosa and connected to a trail system, making it easily accessible to the whole community for walking, running, biking and wildlife viewing. Anyone interested in local food systems, regenerative agriculture, community and economic development, environmental education, land resource management, conservation easements, public-private partnerships, community collaboration, non-profit sustainability, fund-raising and/or projects and event management can find places to tie into this exciting vision.

Depending on Park needs, budget and the interests of the volunteer, this position may include the possibility of shared time with other initiatives of the SLVLFC, such as the Valley Roots Food Hub.

Qualifications:

Education and/or experience in environmental ed/restoration, resource management, sustainable ag, local foods movement, and/or small enterprise development a plus

Ability to be flexible and work hard

Strong computer skills

Strong verbal and written communication skills

Spanish language and/or experience in Latino cultural settings a plus

Comfortable relating to a wide and diverse range of park supporters and users

Stipend ProvidedFalse

Training ProvidedFalse

Housing AvailableFalse

Language/Cultral Support AvailableFalse

Wheelchair AccessibleFalse

Fee RequiredFalse

Fee Amount: None

This opportunity is recurring