Urban Farm Hand

The Creighton Community Foundation seeks an Urban Farm Hand in Phoenix, AZ, to assist in community garden operations and development. This role involves overseeing farm activities, applying regenerative agriculture techniques, and coordinating supplies for garden projects. The foundation focuses on addressing food inequity and building vibrant, supportive neighborhoods. The position emphasizes hands-on work at community garden sites, requiring collaboration with staff and community engagement.
General Description

Creighton Community Foundation was established to support Creighton School District and the communities within its east central Phoenix boundaries by bringing resources to bear upon life needs and whole person development of people and children within some of the poorest neighborhoods in urban Phoenix. We're in the business of building partnerships that will transform collections of houses into vibrant neighborhoods of hope and opportunity. At the very foundation of this work, is addressing rampant food inequity that impacts too many kids and families in our low income neighborhoods. Community food production is one component of our programming that encompasses many youth and food activities. But under the supervision of master gardening and sustainability staff, you'll help us hold this key food operation activity together, and keep it running smoothly.

The Urban Farm Hand will work closely with the Garden Development Leader to oversee development at our garden sites to keep energy and momentum flowing at that community-connected garden sites.

In general, we seek to:
• Restore identity across our low-income communities where we hold that identity has been marred and distorted by the forces of poverty and marginalization.
• Build relational capacity and connectedness within our community through the redress of gaps in life needs and resources, and the promotion/propagation of interaction across a community.
• Center our activity upon a neighborhood-based school, and build capacity within that school as a place which: 1) is the last semblance of a widely recognizable but community-centered public resource, 2) is the foundation for a model that intends to be highly scalable, 3) can develop children into both highly-effective and developmentally-dependent community resources.
• Act as a bridge builder across organizations, and labor with those organizations to bring resources into communities that meet all manner of life and spiritual needs, while helping to grow sustainable relationships that will support generations to come.

What we do is build school-centered neighborhood communities, that by better supporting the life outcomes of children, will multi-generationally open doors and continuously build their community’s capacity.

Position Description

Within each functional area, “Essential Works” describe general areas of responsibility and the “Critical Results” define the performance measures for each function.

FARM OPERATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT – 75%

Essential Works: Oversee a variety of farm operations and development activities to promote growth and engagement at the 3 community gardens

Strategic activities include:
• Help build, develop, and care for garden spaces, creating visible activity that constantly invites attention.
• Learn and Apply Regenerative Ag Techniques for the LEHR beds, Food Forest and Indigenous gardens
• Hands-on, coordinate supplies and help build elevated raised bed aquaponic systems, including water tanks, solar power, pumping and plumbing, and wooden beds.
• Groom and shape combination food sites, and continually carry out incremental development activities with various tools and machines, including potentially with a mini-tractor, backhoe, rotary tiller, blade, mowing deck, and Phoenix Toolbank inventory at your fingertips.
• Animal Husbandry to care for poultry and fish at Acre 51
• Transporting tools and equipment, and opening and closing (clean up) of the site on workdays.
• Maintain the ground of Acre 51, including use of the tractor, Solar, LEHR hardware, Etc.
• Under direction of garden team and master gardener, maintain all systems and make sure all growing and harvest happens in good order, with an eye toward improving productivity.

Critical Result – A vibrant, productive, and well-maintained farm ecosystem that creates a welcoming environment for the community to engage, learn, and explore.

VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT AND EDUCATION – 25%

Essential Works: Support community engagement and education at garden workdays, events, and throughout the work week

Strategic activities include:
• Act as a host to visitors and community members who stop by, and help host volunteer and event days at the garden sites.
• Communicate Goals to the public about Regenerative Agriculture in an Urban Setting
• Educate and guide guests, visitors, and volunteers, including acting as an activity director on volunteer days, and planning and operating these days in collaboration with other garden staff.

Critical Result – An engaged and educated community who are equipped with the knowledge and resources needed to support and propagate urban agriculture in the community.

=Professional requirements
• Minimum of 1 year of garden, food education or experience
• Experience with leadership development among children and/or adults.
• Experience in a highly collaborative environment where you can both lead and follow, while being attentive to meeting the needs of those around you to build better team and community.
• Tolerance for and experience with navigating and healing conflict.
• Comfort with face to face relational interaction with human beings under all conditions, irrespective of difference, conflict, or perception.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, written and verbal.
• Ability to plan complex multi-step long term projects involving many participants required.
• Love of plants and trees and growing spaces, and a strong preference for orderliness and maintenance.
• Love for being outdoors, working hard, and shaping an outdoor space over the long term.
• Driver's license required, Class B or higher drivers license can be a plus. Comfort and experience driving box trucks and cargo vans (no special license).
• Familiarity with food production in a farm setting required, including soil management, plant choices, water/irrigation, growing in Phoenix climate,
• Good Horticulture Practice/Good Agriculture Practice experience and/or training a plus.
• Familiarity with aquaponics and fish stock tanks, as well as small scale residential chicken keeping a plus.
• Mechanical aptitude and hand and power tool experience required, including rough carpentry, basic plumbing, and low voltage electrical.
• Outdoor plumbing, residential or small commercial irrigation systems, solar experience a plus.
• Familiarity with farm equipment operation, care, and maintenance a plus (generally limited to Kubota mini-tractor in our projects, but occasionally involving excavators).
• Familiarity with tree and orchard care a plus.
• Enjoyment of working with youth and groups a plus.
• Spanish speaking a plus.
• Technology aptitude a plus.