The New Roots program at IRC is an initiative to support gardening, food security, nutrition, enterprise, and production within the US network of IRC offices. New Roots Tucson supports refugee food security and aids in their transition to the community through gardening, nutrition education, local food access initiatives and small business farming. We are looking for committed, inventive, hard-working, and enthusiastic individuals with interests in organic farming and community empowerment. The position works alongside a New Roots staff member on site in the gardens as well as planning in the office. The New Roots Intern would provide support in order to increase the capacity of New Roots programming at IRC in Tucson.

Please note that this position is unpaid.

This is an in-person position.


RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Help staff with ongoing garden projects at 4 garden sites outside of the office (e.g. planting, cleaning, weeding, general site maintenance and upkeep)
• Develop new infrastructure projects to benefit the refugee garden sites (permaculture infrastructures, murals, accessible infrastructure, etc)
• Assist with preparation and presentation of virtual farm and garden workshops.
• Evaluate effectiveness of community programming on increasing healthy food access, engaging neighborhood residents, and changing food consumption behavior.
• Assist in securing donations of materials and technical advice to support community gardeners.
• Track inventory of seeds, tools and materials for the program.
  
  
  LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES:

• Practice communicating with limited English speakers
• Practice languages you may be learning (Swahili, Arabic, Kirundi, Kinyarwanda, French)
• Gain a better understanding of the challenges associated with food access
• Sustainable agriculture methods in urban environments
• Monitoring and evaluation