Patrick Sheridan Affordable Housing Fellow

Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF) and Volunteers of America National Services (VOANS) are partnering to honor the career of housing leader Patrick (“Pat”) Sheridan and hope to inspire a new generation of social leaders in the affordable housing industry. Pat recently retired from VOANS, having worked for 40 years to ensure safe, secure affordable housing for low-income individuals and families while creating thriving communities in rural and metropolitan areas. Following in Pat’s footsteps, this position is an opportunity to work with two leading national affordable housing organizations to advocate for affordable homes for individuals, families and seniors. VOANS and SAHF are investing in the next generation of nonprofit and community leaders dedicated to social change by advancing the fellows’ leadership skills, increasing their social capital and embedding fellows in a robust professional network to propel their careers.

The fellowship will run from spring 2021 through the end of the calendar year, ideally suited for a graduate student to work part-time (preferably 20 hours) during the spring semester, full-time over the summer, and part-time again in the fall.

JOB DESCRIPTION
This fellowship will offer a broad range of federal and state policy experiences. The Fellow will be a part of SAHF’s policy team and will assist with planning and executing legislative advocacy as well as issue specific policy research and development. The Fellow will work with SAHF’s policy team with direction from the VOANS team to research and develop advocacy materials around key programs and policy proposals related to veterans housing and health care programs and funding sources that support the provision of services to residents of affordable housing. This position offers the opportunity to deepen experience with legislative advocacy around federal and state housing programs and to develop subject matter expertise in key health and housing programs.

Roles and Responsibilities: The Fellow will spend time with both the SAHF Policy team and VOANS. When inoffice work resumes, the Fellow will have work space in SAHF’s DC offices. SAHF and VOANS expect that the spring semester will be spent primarily with SAHF focusing on legislative advocacy. The summer and fall will offer the opportunity for deeper engagement with the VOANs staff, including VOANS headquarters office in Alexandria, VA, to more deeply engage on policy issues related to veterans housing and health and housing partnerships The Fellow will report to SAHF’s SVP, Policy.

The Fellow will have the following broad job responsibilities:

• Support SAHF members’ congressional outreach and engagement, identifying key offices, and developing collateral on programs and outcomes related to affordable rental housing.
• Research federal housing programs, including those for veterans, and health and housing initiatives that could support VOANS priorities, including but not limited to PACE, Medicaid waivers and demonstration programs.
• Research best practices and policy leadership around providing housing stability for Veterans and seniors and analyze opportunities for replication and scaling in affordable rental housing.
• Develop and refine case studies that illustrate strategies used by affordable housing providers to connect residents to community resources, including health care.

Qualifications:

• Personal commitment to the mission and work of SAHF and VOANS. Bachelor’s degree with strong academic credentials required. Master’s degree or current graduate student preferred.
• Work experience or demonstrated interest in state or federal policy and/or programs related to affordable housing or human services is required.
• Familiarity and or experience with Medicaid and/or affordable housing programs such as the Section 8 project based rental assistance, Section 202 Housing for the Elderly, Section 811, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, the Resident Services Coordinator grant program preferred.
• Self-motivated and disciplined to regularly set and achieve work goals.
• Ability to communicate clearly both in writing and verbally.
• Strong analytic, project management, organization and presentation skills.
• Experience communicating policy issues or programmatic concepts to members of different disciplines.
• Ability and desire to work in an interdisciplinary team and serve as bridge between policy and practice.
• Committed to collaboration and excellent customer service.

Compensation: This is a paid fellowship (stipend).

SAHF and VOANS are committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce and encourages all candidates, especially those who have been historically underrepresented based on race/ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic status, citizenship status, or religion, to apply.

This is a temporary position and does not include benefits.

Submit resumes to jobs@sahfnet.org. Due to the volume of resumes usually received, we regret that we cannot individually respond to all candidates.