Housing Outreach Worker

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OUR VISION

Hope Mission has a vision that men, women, youth and children who come to our doors

would come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour.

This vision can be fulfilled only if all staff is diligent

in serving, strengthening and uplifting people in the name of Jesus Christ.

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Housing Outreach Worker (HOW)

The Rapid Exit is Hope Mission’s Housing First program. Our program mission is “to assist homeless men, women and children in achieving successful, stable housing and positive integration into their communities through active, relational, and person- centered support.”

The HOW position is mainly focused on the task of getting a participant into the program via intake and locating/securing housing for them. The candidate for the HOW position should be able to balance the philosophy of Housing First in that the housing process remains client centered at all times but the presentation of the program displays value and attentiveness to the landlord’s concerns. It is necessary for the candidate to have a sound understanding of available housing, income support, and other related agency/government assistant programs in the Edmonton community.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a 1 year contract (renewable).

Duties and Responsibilities

• Accept referrals for housing from Team Leads.
• Conduct community outreach efforts in attempt to connect with participants that have been referred to the program.
• Meet with potential participants, complete intake assessments and determine appropriate housing responses.
• Provide diversion services to anybody who is not a good fit for our program. Always ensure that they have been successfully referred elsewhere.
• Conduct housing searches and build inventory lists of available housing units for candidates. Liaise with property managers, landlords, realtors and other sources to identify and secure vacant properties for client placement.
• Assertively engage with participants to secure housing including accompaniment to viewings, unit rental, damage deposits, securing income assistance if required, setting up of utilities, signing of leases, and arranging for furnishings and household items to establish their homes.
• Support any participants waiting to be housed.
• Building relationships with landlords in order to increase efficiency of housing time.
• Complete all administrative duties required during the housing process.
• Meet the minimum goal of 4 housings per month.
• Document all efforts on Efforts to Outcome database.
• Attend Weekly HOW meetings.
• Report directly to Team Leader
• Hold Information sessions in the main shelter. Rotating schedule with the rest of the team.
• Complete pre-screens with all interested individuals and forward their VI-SPDATS to Coordinated Access.
• Liaise with Coordinate Access as needed to address any concerns.
• Ensure proper warm transfers to the Follow- up Support Workers in a timely manner

Skills and Qualifications

• A degree or diploma in Social Work, Christian Counseling or other related discipline, and/or relevant experience in the field.
• Previous experience with Housing First and/ or case management is considered a strong asset
• Strong work ethic, time management skills and ability to work with minimal supervision.
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills to connect with participants, landlords, funded agencies and other stakeholders to meet the outlined requirements and standards. Able to establish and maintain effective working relationships with coworkers, clients, and community agencies.
• Strong advocacy skills
• Ability to make decisions in a timely, organized, and appropriate manner.
• Patience, flexibility, creativity, compassion and sensitivity to persons of various marginalized communities.
• Knowledge and application of related ethical practices and standards
• High level of integrity and professionalism.
• Proficiency in MS Office: knowledge of Excel, word processing and database software.
• Demonstrates knowledge of various resources in the city that are available to our participants.
• Valid Class 5 Drivers Licence, personal vehicle and appropriate insurance ($1,000,000)
• Clean Police Information Check