Housing Navigator

**ROLE TITLE**: Housing Navigator

**PLACEMENT**: FT, 40 hours per week

At Redwood, we create safe, affordable, hopeful housing options where people can thrive in connected community. We envision a hope-filled community where everyone has a place to call home. We value collective belonging, hope, innovative leadership, and solidarity. Our work is rooted in the understanding that housing is a human right and plays a vital role in health and wellbeing and we believe the opposite of homelessness is community.

**GENERAL FUNCTION**:
Reporting to the Housing Coordinator, this position will be part of a multi-faceted team that oversees the creation and operation of safe, affordable, hopeful communities of housing and shared spaces across a spectrum of affordability, location, size, permanence, and support. Housing Navigators, alongside Supportive Community Workers, the Clinical Support Coordinator, and various community partners, will provide an intensive, housing-focused program, moving people from homelessness to permanent housing which meets their needs and goals within an accelerated timeline and in-community housing sustainability follow-up support. They will support residents who have not yet found permanent housing to obtain housing and those who found permanent housing to maintain their housing and will work to develop hope through housing.

**HOUSING NAVIGATOR ROLE SPECIFIC DUTIES & DETAILS**:

- The following duties are typical for this position. Successful applicants may not perform all the listed duties and/or may be required to perform additional or different duties from those set forth below to address changing needs and best practices._

**Responsibilities include**:
**Obtaining Housing**
- Provide comprehensive, intensive, housing-focused support to marginalized members of the community living with barriers to housing (complex mental health, addiction, trauma)
- Assist with income support (social assistance, education, training, employment)
- Discuss housing goals and develop Housing Plan
- Work with residents to create budgets
- Support housing search (review listings, assist with calls to landlords, attend showings)
- Provide advocacy, mediation, and system navigation
- Engaged participation in interdisciplinary support with residents and community partners
- Create a Moving Plan for transition to permanent housing, including assistance with giving notice, packing, planning, referral to Furniture Bank services, and cleaning
- Develop a Housing Sustainability Plan with residents in preparation for transition to permanent housing
- Work through the Housing Sustainability Process in the event of challenges to support residents to stay stably housed
- Work with the team to conduct a wrap up interview with each resident to seek input regarding our premises, services, and supports

**Retaining Housing**
- Support with life skills, food security, meaningful daily activity, social inclusion, safety, family reunification
- Connect residents with available community supports and services for long term support
- Provide advocacy, mediation, and system navigation with landlords, neighbours, and community partners
- Address chronic and acute housing barriers and challenges
- Tenant education
- Eviction prevention (financial, unit maintenance, disputes, mental health & well-being)
- Engaged participation in interdisciplinary support with residents and community partners

**Supportive Community**
- Create opportunities for people to connect, create, and contribute
- Work alongside Clinical Supports Coordinator to assist residents in implementing individualized plans to support their holistic care (mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing)
- Assist residents to identify personal goals, actions, and timelines and work towards them
- Work closely with community partners to help residents develop long term support networks
- Support connection to mental health and wellness supports, provide encouragement, coaching conversations, and support with self-care, as well as facilitating access to onsite and community-based counselling services
- Support connection to physical health and wellness supports (medical appts, methadone)
- Create an individualized Safety Plan with each resident and maintain follow up
- Engaged participation in interdisciplinary support with residents and community partners
- Work with the Volunteer Coordinator to coordinate and manage volunteers and volunteer opportunities

**Administration**
- Daily HIFIS entry
- Data entry (case notes, incident reporting)
- Attendance and participation in staff meetings
- Various administrative duties including responding to inquiries for supported housing, managing and facilitating donation requests, creating a monthly calendar, and contributing to social media platforms and monthly update communication
- Contribution to the continued analysis and adjustments of systems and processes to ensure Redwood’s ongoing provision of safe, affordable, hopeful hous