MLF is excited to announce the position of Community Groundskeeper.
The Community Groundskeeper is an integral part of the Property Beautification team assisting in the general upkeep of the landscape at Community First! Village including grounds maintenance and participation in occasional ground construction activities. An additional core component of the position will be leading large numbers of volunteers on a daily basis, which furthers our vision to “empower communities into a lifestyle of service with the homeless.” The Community Groundskeeper will be personable and energetic, keeping grounds functionally and aesthetically sound.
This is a full-time, non-exempt position reporting to the Community Groundskeeping Manager. Due to the nature and requirements of the position, hours are typically 8am-5pm Tuesday-Saturday. Additional nights and weekends may be required. The Community Groundskeeper will office at Community First! Village located at 9301 Hog Eye Road, Austin, TX 78724.
Download Job Description PDF • Posted 04/09/24
Founded in 1998, Mobile Loaves & Fishes (MLF) is a Christian social outreach ministry that empowers communities into a lifestyle of service with the homeless. The organization’s innovative Community First! Village is the country’s largest master planned development designed specifically for men and women who are coming out of chronic homelessness, and has become a national model replicated by other organizations in different cities. With the support of tens of thousands of volunteers and more than 6.5 million meals served through its Truck Ministry, MLF has also grown to become the largest prepared feeding program to the homeless in Central Texas and has spawned similar food truck programs across the country.
Duties & Responsibilities:
- Engage and lead volunteers on miscellaneous projects throughout the property, creating a rewarding experience for each participant
- Maintain lawns, trees, shrubs, flowers, stair paths, retaining walls and turf, employing mulching to optimize the condition of greenery
- Keep the grounds free from trash, litter, debris, weeds, plant diseases, and harmful insects
- Provide daily direction and supervision to the property beautification crew consisting of current residents at Community First! Village
- Manage weekly contracts for property beautification crew
- Monitor quality of work completed by property beautification crew and volunteers
- Operate and assist the groundskeeping crew with operating various types of equipment
- Collaborate with the Community Groundskeeping Manager to address landscaping issues throughout the property
- Lead landscaping & groundskeeping projects throughout Community First! Village
- Assess and determine daily assignments to maintain grounds according to weather and facility’s maintenance schedule
- Work with team to procure landscaping materials and coordinate delivery
- Assist unloading and loading materials and equipment from various types of trucks
- Lead safety efforts among team by adherence to policies and procedures
- Keep assigned vehicle clean and organized
- Assist with shop and jobsite clean-up
- Attend daily team meetings, monthly all staff meetings, and other meetings deemed necessary
- Other Duties & Responsibilities as needed
Knowledge, Skills, Abilities & Principles:
- MLF is a faith-based organization whose ideals and philosophy come directly from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As an organization, we strive to reflect this precept in our communications, both internally and externally.
- Commitment to serving those who have experienced homelessness and personal alignment with MLF’s vision, mission, core values, and goals.
- 2 to 3 years groundskeeping experience preferred
- At least one year of landscaping and/or construction experience required
- Ability to effectively communicate with a positive attitude
- Relational, enjoying interacting and getting to know others
- Flexible, knowing that things will change quickly in our organization
- Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with other employees, residents, and volunteers
- Ability to operate outdoor power equipment, power tools, and construction equipment preferred
- Ability to operate equipment efficiently and safely
- Ability to operate various types of equipment (riding mowers, weed eaters, hedge trimmers, blowers, chain saws, chippers, drills, heavy equipment, etc.) preferred
- Experience operating bobcat and/or aerial lift a plus
- Familiarity with MS Office, Google Drive and Appfolio a plus
- OSHA 10 or 30 in General or Construction industry a plus, or can be obtained within 90 days of employment
- Dependable, consistently showing up to work and meeting deadlines
- Must have a valid driver’s license
Work Environment & Physical Demands:
- Essential physical requirements, such as prolonged kneeling, standing, walking, and twisting
- Ability to safely ascend, descend, and work from a ladder for extended periods
- Ability to lift 80 pounds
- Ability to work outside in varied weather conditions (i.e., heat, cold, rain, ice, snow, etc.)
- Ability to frequently move about all phases of Community First! Village
Our Purpose & Vision
We empower communities into a lifestyle of service with the homeless.
Goals
- Transform the way people view the stereotype of those who find themselves homeless
- To reconnect the homeless to self, family, and community
- Help the chronically homeless rediscover and utilize their God-given talents to do purposeful work
- To connect human to human, heart to heart through the fellowship of food and hospitality
- Inspire people to give abundantly and offer their best first
Core Beliefs
The vision is supported by core beliefs, all focused around our understanding that homelessness is the result of a profound catastrophic loss of family:
- God, infinitely prefect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness, freely created man to make him share in His own blessed life
- By virtue of being created by God in His image, we are all called to live in community and relationship with Him through each other
- The family is the original cell of social life
- You shall love your neighbor as yourself
- All members of the human family are equal in dignity
- The Lord God took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and care for it. Gen.2:15
Our Mission
We provide food and clothing, cultivate community and promote dignity to our homeless brothers and sisters in need.
Core Values
MLF is committed to fostering a culture that prioritizes relational connection. We believe there is opportunity in every aspect of our work to be relational in a highly transactional world. In this culture, transactions are means to relational ends, not the other way around.
This begins with the countercultural love poured out by Jesus Christ and grows as imperfect individuals strive to show this love to each other human-to-human, heart-to-heart.
Each individual’s openness to the journey of their own personal growth is essential in building our relational culture, and we believe this culture flourishes as we each continuously strive to more fully embody these four core values:
- Faith: We define Faith as the foundational belief that our world and all our work belong to God. This allows us to engage our work with joy and lightheartedness, knowing that we are not ultimately in control.
- Humility: We define Humility as rightly viewing oneself as a single piece of a grander story. This humility leads to a view of oneself that is neither too high nor too low.
- Generous Spirit: We define a Generous Spirit as a readiness to give more grace, mercy, and hospitality than is necessary or expected. This posture allows us to see others for who they are, not what they do.
- Integrity: We define Integrity as a wholehearted commitment to doing right by God, ourselves, and others. This wholeheartedness shows itself in consistently choosing honesty, responsibility and ownership in all actions and decisions.
MLF is a faith-based organization with its ideals and philosophy coming directly from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.
MLF is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Personnel are chosen based on ability without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, genetics, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation in accordance with federal and state law.
Learn more
Mobile Loaves & Fishes (MLF) is a social outreach ministry that has been empowering communities into a lifestyle of service with the homeless since 1998. But that’s just our elevator pitch. Here are a few places to start if you want to get to know us better:
About MLF >
Our Leadership Team >
Media Coverage >
Community First! Village >
other ways to get involved
There are so many different ways to join us and help us empower communities into a lifestyle of service with the homeless.
