Housing and Shelter Paralegal (Boston, MA)

Housing and Shelter Paralegal

GBLS is an Affirmative Action Equal Opportunity Accessible Employer and strives to ensure that our staff members reflect the diversity of the communities we serve.Greater Boston Legal Services seeks an individual for a Paralegal position in the Housing Unit.The position involves advising and representing individuals and families referred by Rosie s Place to Greater Boston Legal Services to assist them with administrative law issues arising from issues with the housing authority or management company that administers their voucher or subsidy. The issues will commonly involve rent calculations requests for transfer reasonable accommodations and will at times include representing tenants at administrative hearings.This position also involves working with homeless families with children and or families at risk of becoming homeless who require emergency shelter assistance (EA) as well as families occupying EA shelter and whose benefits are being terminated. Responsibilities include assisting homeless families to overcome denial of EA shelter eligibility assisting families with preservation of their shelter benefits and assisting families with a disabled household member to obtain necessary disability related accommodations. Qualified candidates should be able to work quickly given that requests for assistance are received on an on-going emergency basis and may require swift turn-around. Applicants must be able to address families in crisis. Additionally applicants should possess strong advocacy skills that include the ability to communicate effectively and persuasively both orally and in writing. Candidate must be able to engage with attorneys and state agencies to represent families in administrative hearings and informal negotiations as well as participating in systemic advocacy and outreach with community & coalition groups including legislative & regulatory review & comment. Position will involve some work directly on-site with Rosie s Place. Written and oral fluency in Spanish Haitian Creole Portuguese or another language spoken by GBLS clients is helpful but not required. Salary is based on a union scale with a projection of starting salary between 41 500 to 46 500 based on the number of years of experience. GBLS offers a generous benefits package retirement contribution and generous Paid Time Off (PTO) leave. Candidates should submit a cover letter resume and brief writing sample to the Human Resources Team via e-mail at jobs(at)gbls.org. Please refer to the Job Code HU-PARA when applying for this position. Deadline for application is October 31 2021 or until position is filled. GBLS encourages applicants from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences.