Housing Advocate

Who We Are

The Road Home was founded in 1923 and has been a leader in the endeavor to end homelessness for over 100 years. We provide low-barrier emergency shelters, supportive services, and housing-first-minded rental assistance that helps individuals and families step out of homelessness and back into the community. We are seeking compassionate and empathetic individuals who are interested in making a difference in the lives of others and their community. 

Job Summary

The Medically Vulnerable People (MVP) Program  a wide variety of duties relating to working with these vulnerable populations. The MVP Program prioritizes aging and medically vulnerable individuals that are experiencing homelessness, providing safe, accommodating non-congregate emergency shelter. As a TRH employee you will be a part of a homeless shelter system that provides emergency shelter to over 160 individuals nightly

*Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions, so please still apply

*Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.

Job title:

Housing Advocate

Reports to:

Housing Advocate Manager

Position Status:

Full Time or Part Time

Salary Range:

$16.80/Hour

Job Location:

Medically Vulnerable Population

EEO Class:

Administrative Support Worker FLSA Status Non-Exempt

Shift:

Day Shift (7:00am-3:30pm), Swing Shift (3:00pm-11:30pm), or Grave Shift (11:00pm-7:30am)

Requirements

As an Advocate, you will:

1. Provide quality customer service to medically vulnerable clients, addressing both immediate needs and resources beyond a temporary shelter.

2. Observe and regulate shelter activities, ensuring adherence to rules and procedures, with a special focus on the unique needs of medically vulnerable individuals.

3. Offer clear and specific information to residents, instructing them on shelter rules and procedures, taking into consideration their medical conditions.

4. Assist in maintaining a clean and safe facility, identifying special needs, and referring needs to supervisor. This includes basic cleaning responsibilities such as sweeping, mopping, cleaning bio spills, and ensuring workspaces are tidy and prepared for the next shift, among other duties as needed.

5. Answer phones, take messages, and respond to the public, understanding and addressing the medical concerns of callers.

6. Operate as part of a team dedicated to serving the medically vulnerable in our community.

7. Follow the instructions of the Shift Supervisor/Lead, with attention to the specific needs of medically vulnerable individuals.

As an Advocate, you will be trained to:

1. Assist in resolving conflicts among residents, paying particular attention to the health-related aspects of conflicts.

2. Write incident reports when necessary, maintaining accurate shelter logs that document both housing and health-related information.

3. Provide occasional crisis intervention and interface with community resources such as EMS and law enforcement, ensuring a medically informed approach.

Promoting Best Practice

· Demonstrates awareness and desire to understand diverse populations

· Ability to contribute to the Agency’s commitment to enhancing awareness and appreciation

· A willingness to understand that housing first, harm reduction, low barrier access to resources is best practice and essential to our mission at The Road Home.

· Ability to set and maintain good boundaries, using Trauma-Informed Care as a guideline

*Other duties as assigned

Education and Experience

· High School Diploma or GED required.

What will make you a successful Advocate

· Excellent customer service skills, effective communication, and professionalism in handling difficult situations, especially those involving medical concerns.

· Ability to multitask and remain calm in demanding and unpredictable situations, understanding the urgency of medical situations.

· Good computer skills.

· Sound decision-making ability, with a focus on health-related considerations.

· Openness to learning exceptional boundary-setting skills and demonstrating the ability to set and maintain appropriate boundaries with medically vulnerable clients.

· Cultural responsiveness and the ability to work with clients from different racial, socio-economic, and ethnic communities with respect and openness.

· Demonstrate an awareness of and sensitivity to diverse populations. Ability to contribute to the agency’s commitment to enhancing awareness and appreciation of diverse ethnic and cultural heritages.

· Willingness to accept supervision, direction, and constructive feedback.

· Desire and ability to work as part of a diverse and dynamic team.

· Reliability and dependability.

· Willingness to learn and work from a Trauma-Informed Care framework.

· Familiarity with the Housing First philosophy.

· Must pass a pre-employment background check and drug screen

Physical and Equipment Requirements

· Ability to lift 25 pounds

· Ability to stand and/or walk for an hour or more at a time

Benefits

The Road Home is a 501c3 non-profit social services agency whose mission is to help people step out of homelessness and back into our community.

Come be part of the solution.

We have a robust, reasonably priced, and inclusive benefits plan for full and part-time employees (25-40 hours/week)

· Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)

· HSA, FSA, HRA (We reimburse part of your deductible)

· Retirement Plan (403B with TRH contribution and match)

· FREE Life Insurance for employees

· Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & 12 Public Holidays)

· One Floating Holiday Per Year

· Free Short Term & Long-Term Disability

· Employee Assistance Program

· Free Training & Development

· Tuition Assistance for a wide variety of classes

The Road Home is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is essential to The Road Home’s mission of helping people experiencing homelessness move back into housing. We know that having a more diverse team makes our organization stronger and leads to better experiences and outcomes for the people in our programs.