Bilingual Advocate

ABOUT US Women's Lunch Place is a safe, welcoming daytime shelter and advocacy center for women experiencing hunger, homelessness, and poverty. We offer a supportive community that provides healthy meals, housing support, wellness programming, and other critical services designed to restore dignity and empower women to make positive changes in their lives. POSITION SUMMARY Advocates are proactive, mission‑driven people who work to engage and assist vulnerable women to secure or retain their housing, access mental health services and substance use disorder treatment, and other critical services. WLP advocates are solution based, responsive to a diverse and challenging guest community with flexibility, identifying how best to achieve short‑ and long‑term goals, recommending and offering guests the tools and support to solve their problems, effectively planning the closing of cases and supporting women through this transition, and providing appropriate follow‑up assistance. Working as an Advocate you will provide professional, timely and effective advocacy services to these women experiencing hunger, poverty, and homelessness. Reports to: Advocacy Manager Exempt Status: Exempt Position Status: Full Time ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Advocacy: Establish and cultivate supportive and trusting relationships with guests. Assist with guest needs for housing, public benefits, trauma intervention, financial questions, and make referrals for professional help with physical & mental health, addiction and any other needs. Provide responsive assistance to solve immediate and longer‑term needs and goals. Work with guest on an action plan and schedule regular follow‑up appointments until guest’s goals are accomplished or her needs are better met by other care providers. Provide all responses and interventions in a therapeutic manner, integrating client‑centered and trauma‑informed techniques and other modalities as necessary (i.e. harm reduction, cognitive behavioral, motivational interviewing). Accompany guests when appropriate, to meetings and appointments for housing, court, and medical. Evaluate interventions on on‑going basis. Prepare for crises and respond as needed. Develop and maintain relationships with other critical service providers and maintain a current understanding of their programs. Provide case management services at WLP, collaborators or satellite locations Attend offsite meetings and workshops as assigned by supervisor. Actively participate in daily check outs, and weekly supervision with Advocacy Manager. Perform other tasks as assigned. Daily Operations: Work schedule includes weekly drop‑in and scheduled appointments with guests, triage and office hours. Also includes training, workshop, meetings and other WLP commitments. Act as a liaison with shelter Direct Care & Resource Center staff and volunteers as needed. Support guests’ needs in accordance with policies and procedures manual, and as directed by Senior Staff. Maintain staff, volunteer, donor and guest confidentiality. Participate in WLP community holiday celebrations and events, as required, Create a safe and welcoming environment for staff, volunteers and guests. Administrative: Accurate and timely reporting of all significant guest information including program database, incident reporting and all other data gathering requirements. Accurate and timely reporting of financial data including petty cash, check requests, gift card requests, and credit card purchases. Computer literacy. Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite preferred. Ability to abide by WLP Professional Ethics & Boundaries policy QUALIFICATIONS: To perform this job successfully you will be a passionate, proactive, energetic and tenacious advocate determined to secure a safer future for the historically marginalized women who rely on Women’s Lunch Place for meals, housing, healthcare and support services. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability preferred. High school diploma required. Associate or bachelor’s degree preferred, or commensurate experience with homelessness, poverty, addiction, mental illness, trauma, and/or abuse. Ability to learn and take initiative in a fast‑paced environment. Ability to set limits in a clear and respectful manner. Ability to respond to and prioritize multiple requests for assistance. Experience in housing advocacy. Experience and/or understanding of trauma informed care. Knowledge of resources and emergency services available in Boston area. Familiarity with state and federal legal systems regarding immigration, housing and behavioral health treatment. Access to automobile for work related travel preferred. Language Skills: Bilingual in Cantonese, Spanish, Haitian Creole or Portuguese preferred. Physical and Environmental Requirements: To be qualified for this position, an individual must meet the following standards and/or be able to perform the following essential functions and activities. Sensory and Communicative activities include: Seeing, hearing, feeling and speaking. An individual in this position will be exposed to the following environmental conditions: high level of noise, arguments, demands and commotion in community dining room. Women’s Lunch Place offers a rewarding work environment with competitive salary, generous benefits and a strong commitment to diversity in its workforce and programs. Women’s Lunch Place does not discriminate based on race, color, gender or gender identity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or disability. #J-18808-Ljbffr