Job Posting - Join the Summer Student Team at OPIRG McMaster

Job Posting - Migrant Health Project Co-ordinator

Time	Begins at May 21st 8:00 AM EDT ending on May 31st 11:59 PM EDT
Location	MUSC 229
Organizers	OPIRG McMaster
Posted by	OPIRG Staff

Ontario Public Interest Research Group McMaster
Migrant Health Project Coordinator Job Posting
Job Description:
The Migrant Health Project Coordinator will be responsible for bringing together community stakeholders of migrant health and well being. They will be instrumental in collecting and assessing the current demand and needs of migrant populations in Hamilton, as well as the current services available.
Please submit a cover letter outlining past relevant work/volunteer experience, your academic focus and how it relates to this position, and your related skills and interests. Also include your CV and two references that can evaluate previous related work/volunteer experience.
Key Responsibilities
1. Identify key community organizations working with or providing services to migrant populations in Hamilton.
2. Build relationships with appropriate organizations within the Hamilton community
3. Complete an evaluation of current community initiatives surrounding migrant health and wellness
4. Review and recommend geographical areas in which to offer programs/services
5. Evaluate current demand, need, and access to community health services
6. Create a plan for the recruitment and direction of student volunteers for the coming school year
7. Various awareness projects to be carried out in September 2013

Requirements:
The applicant must meet Canada Summer Jobs (an initiative of the Summer Work Experience  - Service Canada)  criteria; i.e. the applicant must be between the ages of 15 and 30 and must be returning to school in the Fall as a full-time student.

Minimum Education: Completed second year university, Any program/specialization
Must be able to independently use Microsoft Office Suite (knowledge of Access an asset)
Must have excellent English verbal and written communication skills. Second language an asset.
Capable of working independently as well as part of an interdisciplinary team. Must have initiative and ability to carry out instructions without highly detailed instruction.
Sensitive to cultural differences and comfortable interacting with people of various backgrounds.
Experience working with health data in a research capacity an asset.
Experience with migrant populations an asset.
Geography and/or geographic information systems experience an asset.
Very comfortable meeting new people.
Required to travel between various locations with Hamilton.
Comfortable navigating the Hamilton Street Railway system to get around. 

Start Date: July 2, 2013
End Date: August 23, 2013
Wage: $13/hour @ 30 hours/week

OPIRG McMaster aims to link research with action on a broad range of social justice and environmental issues, both locally and globally.  Please check out our website (www.opirg.ca) in order to gain a better understanding of the kind of work OPIRG engages in. 

OPIRG McMaster will recruit a candidate based on hiring practices outlined in our Collective Agreement.  Although the candidate will not be a union member, their hiring will be governed by our commitment to these ideals.  As stated in article 13.2.3:  OPIRG welcomes the contributions that individuals from marginalized communities bring to our organization, and invites aboriginal people, people of colour, women, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, queer-oriented people, single parents, members of ethnic minorities, immigrants and people with disabilities to apply.  We encourage applicants to describe the contributions and experiences, they, as individuals who identify with marginalized communities, would bring to the OPIRG organization in their cover letter.

Please send resume and cover letter to Lauren.Jewett@phri.ca by May 31, 2013.

And Along Comes Mary!

My name is Mary. I am in my third year of health studies and gerontology at the department of health aging and society. Presently, I am the 2013 OPIRG McMaster Alternative Welcome Week Coordinator. I am working on making the fourth welcome week event a success. My work includes contacting the various working groups at OPIRG such as the Hamiltonians for Migrant and Refugee Health, Food Not Bombs and Fossil Free McMaster. This year’s Alternative Welcome week is of interest to students who are concerned with social justice initiatives such as the environment, human trafficking among others.

OPIRG has helped me learn a lot about the work that is being done both in Hamilton by the OPIRG working groups and in the community with projects that we will be organized this year including Super Crawl- organized at James Street South for those who love entertainment and art as well as the Re: Brand Hamilton Project.

sanctuary!

WORKING GROUP 2013-2014 LINE UP

OPIRG McMaster Board of Directors and Staff welcome two new volunteer WORKING GROUPS to our fold:


Food Not Bombs Hamilton and Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative join returning groups:

• Adaptive Design Hamilton
• Changing Gears Collective (formerly Hamilton Womyn's Bike Collective)
• Community Volunteer Action
• Fossil Free McMaster
• Guatemalan Solidarity Working Group
• Hamilton Freeskool!
• Hamilton Students Community Initaitives
• Hamilton Urban Beekeepers (H.U.B.)
• Hamiltonians for Migrant and Refugee Health
• McMaster First Nations Students Association
• McMaster Initiative for Water
• Radical Reading Storytelling Series
• Threadwork

Official start date is September 1, 2013 - if you need help contacting any of these groups, please e-mail randy(dot)opirg(at)gmail(dot)com 

Walking West

These hikers made the trek through time - first, back to McMaster's beginnings in Hamilton, and Mac's integral relationship with the Royal Botanical Gardens and Cootes Paradise - we also poked around in the possible future, with plans to enlarge the buffer between the parking lots in Lot M and the re-aligned Ancaster Creek - McMaster has indicated they will do a 30metre naturalized buffer starting this spring. Another future includes the idea of turning unused parking at the south-west of Lot M into an outdoor research facility with a focus on rehabilitating wetlands.

If you are interested in this project, check out RESTORE COOTES!

Heeeeeeere's Johnny!

Hi guys! I’m Jonathan Valencia, I’m currently enrolled in Honours Kinesiology at McMaster, I’m a very easy going and friendly person, as well as a bit of a “health-nut”, but most importantly I’m very passionate about the environment. As of May 2ⁿ I have began working with Randy Kay on the Air Quality Pilot Project where our main focus is on the Keith neighborhood in downtown Hamilton which is one of the urban areas most highly affected by air pollution due to its close proximity to the industrial part of the city. We are targeting this issue with a simple solution, planting trees! Trees have been shown to reduce pollution substantially and so we will be informing and promoting the already existing street tree program that is run by the city of Hamilton. Although the main focus here is to reduce the adverse effects of pollution on human health, this project will also help reduce climate change in a small way. It is the accumulation of small actions such as these that will get the planet back on track, and I’m happy to do my part!

West Campus History Hike!

Lunch Hour History Hike: Ponds to Parking in West Campus

Wednesday, May 15, 12:30pm - 1:30pm
Meet at OPIRG Office, McMaster University Student Centre room 229

Organizers Restore Cootes and OPIRG McMaster

Walk back in time and explore the founding of McMaster University in Hamilton, the relationship between McMaster and the Royal Botanical Gardens' properties, Canada's first modern highway, electric railways, pioneer cemeteries, lost ponds, and "ghost" trails.

This roughly one hour walk through west campus will also focus on changes to the parking area to create a naturalized buffer between the ashphalt lots and the beautiful Ancaster/Coldspring Creek that passes through McMaster's property.

There is no cost for this popular hike, bring a friend and explore the campus in a new way.

Your guide is Randy Kay of community group RESTORE COOTES, and OPIRG McMaster's Coordinator of Volunteers.

You can register for the hike by e-mailing Randy here

Volunteers? Appreciated!

OPIRG attacked the McMaster Alpine Tower again this year for our annual volunteer appreciation event.

Ably attended to by the Altitude staff from Athletics and Recreation, several of our amazing volunteers made their climbing attempts under warm sunny skies.

The view from the top?

Cootes Paradise from the top of the tower

More photos on our facebook page: check it out!