Veteran’s Housing Support and Housing Liaison

**Veteran’s Housing Support and Housing Liaison**
**(Veteran’s Scattered-Site Supportive Housing - Reconciliation & Equity-Focused - VSSSH-REF)**

**Program**:Ending Veteran’s Homelessness - Reconciliation and Equity Focus

**Reports to**: Executive Director, receives supervision from Manager of Addiction Services

Manager of Housing and Homelessness Supports

**Positions Available**:1 full-time (35 hours per week)

**Salary Range**:$30.17-$37.37 per hour, based on agency salary grid

**Benefits**:Extended health benefits, EAP, 3% RRSP matching (after probation), generous vacation, sick, and personal time.

**About Porchlight Counselling and Addictions Services**

For 854 years, Porchlight Counselling and Addictions Services has been supporting our community with counselling, building healthy relationships, community engagement, addictions services, and targeted supportive housing. We want everyone to have access to affordable, caring, person-centred, trauma-informed, culturally appropriate supports that meet their unique needs. Our vision is for a community where there is equality, respect, empathy, and inclusion, and this is why we get up in the morning and do the work that we do.

Our team enjoys working collaboratively and we strive to value each other, because we know people are our most important resource. Our staff and volunteers work to support each other and value a healthy work-life balance. We see our clients as people first and aspire to walk alongside them towards growth and healing. We invest in our staff and work to support their growth as both individuals and team members.

While our team has a history of providing supportive housing for people in addiction recovery, the Ending Veteran’s Homelessness - Reconciliation and Equity Focus is a new program funded by the Government of Canada and administered by the Region of Waterloo. This multi-agency partnership will support veterans experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region to access the supports needed to move them in to permanent housing. Porchlight, in partnership with ThriveHIV, will focus on finding veterans from equity-deserving groups, work with landlords to arrange appropriate housing, and support individuals to stay housed.

That’s where you come in.

**Areas of Professional Responsibility**:
This program exists to support participants to break the cycle of homelessness and transition to long-term stabilization in permanent housing. This position plays a vital role in helping Veterans remain housed by offering consistent, structured support, engaging landlords, navigating systems, and collaborating with community partners. It is the intent of this service to utilize a relational model of holistic engagement to determine how to appropriately support the individuals and their communities. This is a dual role, providing service to landlords as a Housing Liaison, and providing supports to participants as a Housing Support Worker.
- Demonstrate familiarity with housing laws and policies, including the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA), the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB), and subleasing regulations, ensuring tenants’ and landlords’ rights and obligations are upheld. The VSSSH-recruit and provide responsive, flexible service to landlords.
- As the landlord liaison, you will work to find Locate units that are appropriate and suitable that match the racial and the intersectional diversity needs of the program participants.
- Educate landlords on Veteran homelessness, the program, and support structures available.
- Recruit Nand negotiate lease conditions and rental rates, including arranging rent subsidies.
- Provide responsive, flexible service to landlords.
- Identify and build relationships with veterans experiencing homelessness from equity-deserving groups (veterans who are women, Indigenous or racialized, 2SLGBTQ2IA+, living with a disability).
- Provide consistent, reliable supports to participants by maintaining a regular schedule and offering structure and routine.
- Collaborate with the Veteran Outreach Worker and Veteran Program Coordinator to conduct comprehensive intakes with Veterans drawn from the Veteran’s By-Name Data List. This list will be comprised of Veteran’s experiencing homelessness whom:

- have had their Veteran Status confirmed by Veteran’s Affairs Canada
- meet the Low-income measure (LIM) threshold and have income to pay the 30/70 income/subsidy split on the unit.
- Match participants to housing units via a process to be developed in collaboration with The Region and the Veteran Program Coordinator.
- Walk alongside Veterans to navigate community systems (e.g., social assistance, financial trusteeship, mental health, addictions, legal, medical, etc.), providing varying terms of support according to level of need and acuity.
- Once housed, provide participants supports to stay housed that are appropriate to their needs and their communities, Support connections to internal and external resources including with assis