Avodah Jewish Service Corps Paralegal at Amica Center for Immigrant Rights

Applications are open for the 2024-2025 Avodah's Jewish Service Corps, an immersive service year program running September 2024 - August 2025 for emerging changemakers ages 21-26. Spend a year serving full-time at a non-profit placement partner while living and learning in a justice-oriented Jewish community. We are accepting applications for our final spot in our DC cohort a rolling basis. The open role is as follows:

Paralegal at Amica Center for Immigrant Rights: The Amica Center for Immigrant Rights strives to ensure equal justice for all immigrant adults and children at risk of detention and deportation in the Capital region area and beyond through direct legal representation, know your rights presentations, impact litigation, advocacy, and the enlistment and training of attorneys to defend immigrants. The Paralegal in the Detained Adult Program will focus on the coordination and execution of visits to detention centers for the purpose of conducting know your rights presentations and intakes with detained adults, working with clients throughout the course of removal proceedings, including assisting with paperwork and case preparation, and supporting the program’s provision of services as a whole.  

• The first weeks of work include an intensive training course in jail visit, volunteer, immigration law, and database management.
• Although not necessary (because bilingual detainees and others often can serve as translators), Spanish fluency is highly recommended. French or Arabic language skills are also helpful.

As a member of the Jewish Service Corps, you’ll: 

• Create lasting Jewish community. Home-cooked Shabbat dinners, late night conversations, and holiday celebrations make living in the bayit (communal home) memorable and meaningful. Corps Members co-create intentional, pluralistic communities that help them vision and embody how the world could be. 
• Launch your career in social justice.  After matching with a placement organization,, you'll contribute meaningfully to on-the-ground efforts on crucial justice issues such as immigration, housing insecurity, education, healthcare, the criminal legal system, and more. Gain a year of hands-on experience with a supportive community by your side.
• Dive into deep learning. Through experiential programming, you’ll explore different visions for movements for justice, the role of community in creating a more just world, and how you want to show up as a Jew in justice work.  Our dynamic curriculum will deepen and contextualize your day-to-day work, while supporting you in finding your place in broader justice movements. Jews of Color (JOCs) can also participate in JOC-specific programming and community building.
• Have your basic needs met. Avodah takes care of the most important things. Corps Members receive furnished housing, a monthly living stipend, health insurance, an exit stipend, and a travel allowance.  Corps Members can also tap into the economic access fund to support unmet financial needs.   
• Join our active alumni network for life. Our community of over 1,500 Jewish social justice professionals and activists across the country are there to help with apartment hunts, job references, Shabbat dinner invites, mentorship, and everything in between.

Avodah is committed to building a service corps that inclusively represents the diverse Jewish Community. Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Jews of Color, people of color, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, LGBT2QIA people, and people who come from poor or working class backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply!