Previous Liaison Guidelines

Previous Liaison Guidelines by Bienvenidos

Why liaisons at LAEV?
1.Inspire compassionate, nurturing, & respectful relationships between applicants and community members.
2.Improve communication between applicants and community members.

What liaisons do:
The liaison is a primary point of contact between an applicant and the community. The liaison answers the applicant’s questions. On behalf of the community, the liaison keeps informed about the interest and intention of the applicant. The liaison is expected to help arrange for and accompany the applicant to meetings concerning the applicant’s membership. The liaison is responsible for scheduling the applicant’s membership step on the community meeting agenda. The liaison introduces the applicant to other residents & encourages him/her to attend meals, meetings, work parties etc.

Assigning liaisons:

• All full LAEV members are eligible to serve as liaisons. A liaison must meet the participation expectations Participation and Exit Policy Draft and uphold all rental agreements. The Bienvenidos Committee periodically does outreach to add liaisons to the list.
• Generally after an applicant has taken a tour, attended orientation, completed their questionnaire, and announced their interest at a community meeting, the Bienvenidos Committee assigns a liaison.
• The Bienvenidos Committee assigns a liaison by contacting the next volunteer on the list. The volunteer may accept the assignment or may decline for reasons such as being too busy or already knowing the applicant well.
• The assigned liaison contacts the applicant as soon as possible, and explains the liaison’s role and the membership process.
• If a problem arises with the current liaison, the Bienvenidos Committee will assign a new liaison.
• First Time Liaisons will be mentored/assisted by an experienced liaison, who will assist in matters such as
  • Confidentiality
  • Emotional Attachment
  • Setting appropriate expectations with the applicant
  • Good Communication

In the interested phase, the liaison:

• Reads the applicant’s questionnaire and makes sure the questionnaire is made available to the community to read.
• Ensures applicant has been added to the friends of laev listserve.
• Makes sure the applicant has the latest version of the membership process document.
• Lets applicant know about LAEV’s consensus process.
• Helps the applicant become familiar with LAEV culture.
• Makes sure an applicant understands the size range and condition of apartments available to individuals, couples and families.
• Makes sure the applicant gets their credit check.

In the candidate phase, the liaison:

• Is in touch with their candidate frequently.
• Generally attends activities with their candidate to ensure that they get to know everyone. Introduces the candidate around. Finds out what the candidate has in common with other members and make sure the candidate meets others and gets to know about their mutual interests.
• May arrange one or more community events especially for their candidate, e.g., a brunch or dinner or dialogue group. Liaisons can coordinate with the Bienvenidos Committee to do something jointly with other applicants.
• Is suggested to interact with the candidate in settings outside of the LAEV community.
• Makes sure the candidate knows that a specific request for an apartment is not addressed until after a candidate has been accepted for residency.
• Makes sure the candidate is familiar with LAEV policies and agrees to abide by them if accepted for membership.
• If the community raises concerns about a candidate’s acceptance, the liaison gives the candidate feedback to help them understand the community’s concerns and possible ways to resolve these concerns.

Confidentiality:

• Liaisons (and the community at large) are expected to maintain the confidentiality of comments made about the applicant. Information may be shared, but not be attributed to any individual member.

The following document was drafted by Lois Arkin, it was not aproved by the community, it is here for historical reference.

A FEW GUIDELINES FOR LIAISONS. You may have other guidelines to add to this list. Please do. Or there may be some items on this list you�re not comfortable with. Please let Lois know what they are, and I will try to revise these draft working guidelines. Although this guideline list has not been processed by the community, it�s all we have right now, so just use it as a working document in terms of what fits for you.

Generally, the liaison effort has been starting after someone has done
three things:
1. Come on a tour
2. Submitted their questionnaire
3. Come to a BC or community meeting and announced that they want to be
in our process.

• Make sure you have the latest version of the resident process
  document from Lois
• Call or email your applicant frequently (about once every one to two
  weeks) to keep them informed of community dinners, meetings, special
  events (e.g., frisbee, a slide show talk, a dialogue group, etc.).
  Check the white board, website and listserve regularly to know what’s
  coming up.
• The liaison process starts generally after the applicant has been on a
  tour, submitted the questionnaire AND has announced that they want to
  formally enter our process at a BC or community meeting.
• Make sure that the applicant meets everyone who is active in the LAEV
  community, generally including those who come fairly regularly to BC and
  community meetings. Get a current phone list from Lois so you can be
  systematic about it.
• Try to be at as many activities as your applicant attends, as
  practical for you, to ensure that they get to know everyone. Introduce
  them around. Find out what they have in common with other EVers and
  make sure they meet each other and get to know about their mutual interests.
• Try to arrange one or more community events especially for your
  applicant, e.g., a brunch or dinner or dialogue group. Coordinate with
  other liaisons to do something jointly if it�s a fit. (Check with Lois
  to see the list of other current liaisons.)
• Make sure the applicant knows that housing doesn�t become a serious
  consideration until after they�ve been accepted for residency.
• Be at the BC or community meeting where the applicant’s residency is
  being considered.
• During the liaison process, make a date to go over the Memorandum of
  Understanding with the applicant for those items that you believe are
  relevant. (Get latest copy from Lois if you don�t have it.) Also, make
  sure they are familiar with our core values, and the month to month
  rental agreement and addendum plus the policies and procedures of the
  past few years that the community has consensed to which they will be
  responsible for following (see the blue policy binder under the mailboxes).
• If, after the applicant has come to a community or BC meeting for
  their �acceptance interview� and they are not accepted but we have asked
  them to remain in our process because of issues some Eco-Villagers might
  still have, ensure that the applicant gets proper feedback from you or
  other EV residents, so they know what the issues are that they can work on.
• At some point, go over the LAEV handouts with the applicant to ensure
  that they have a grasp of the history, context, processes,
  accomplishments and problems of LAEV. These are in the freebie holder
  on the brown table in the lobby. If you need more, get them from Lois.
• After they are accepted, make sure they fill out a rental application
  and return to Lois for basic credit check (tell them to get application
  from Lois).
• Let them know after they�re accepted that they can still come to you
  with questions and concerns.