Cultural Practitioner

**Cultural Practitioner**

Youth Empowerment and Support Services (YESS) is currently seeking a Culture Practitioner. This new position will support and embrace the diverse youth and staff of YESS by recognizing race, ethnicity, immigration status, religion, socioeconomic background, and gender identity. Acknowledging our diverse cultures will allow us to incorporate the cultural component in understanding and improving the overall wellbeing of those we serve.

What We Do

YESS is a not-for-profit agency working with youth facing difficult realities. Based in Edmonton, YESS provides immediate and low-barrier 24/7 shelter, a drop-in resource centre, temporary supportive housing, and individualized wrap-around supports for young people aged 15-24.

We work collaboratively within a network of care focused on the prevention of youth homelessness by providing youth with the necessary supports to stabilize their housing, improve their wellbeing, build life skills, connect with community, and avoid re-entry into homelessness.

What You Will Do

Reporting to the Manager of Wellness and Integration, the Culture Practitioner will consider the youth and staff cultural backgrounds, biases, and traditions and provide culturally responsive and trauma-informed counselling services. You will offer skills and strategies to assist youth and staff to bridge and connect to the resiliency of their culture and spirituality in ways that are accessible and sustainable. Additionally, you will maintain competency through on-going cultural development activities and act as a resource person for the staff and youth. The Culture Practitioner will support connecting youth and staff to culturally relevant resources and support the implementation of cultural connection in daily life.

As the Culture Practitioner, you will work with youth and staff in trauma-informed ways through identity development by helping to bridge cultural & spiritual practices into their life. The Culture Practitioner role is a liaison between the individual (whether youth or staff) and their cultural practice, seeing the individual as the expert in their own life and supporting knowledge gathering and sharing to deepen their connection to themselves, others and the world. This role requires collaboration with different departments, as per the needs of the staff and youth.

Responsibilities include:

- Meet with youth and staff to offer sessions to support cultural or spiritual practice in a single-session or ongoing basis and include relationship building outside of formal sessions
- Offer spiritual self-care resources for youth and staff to support their overall wellness in tangible & implementable ways
- Incorporate alternative modalities to meet the unique needs of our clients
- Offer group/ department sessions with meditations and clearings to create an integrative, holistic meeting experience
- Data gathering and analysis to measure outcomes on programs
- Compile comprehensive monthly objectives report on participation, programs and outcomes
- Develop program materials to integrate cultural insights
- Offer education on cultural ceremonies and celebrations - drawing on expertise from staff and youth
- Develop relationship with external referrals to connect youth and staff with extra supports
- Assess needs based on culture specific materials
- Create cultural and spiritual events for staff and youth to explore different cultures
- Work with youth to develop goals within their capacity
- Complete case notes after each session for the purpose of client records and outcome measurements
- Meet with youth on intake and staff upon orientation to assess needs, preferences and desires
- Provide on-going assessment of agency’s culture needs

Additionally, you will provide a professional level of service to donors, promote the agency in a positive manner to the outside community and share information, communicate, and collaborate with other YESS staff.

What You Bring

**Education**: Post secondary education in a related field, or training within cultural and spiritual fields

**Experience**: Minimum of 2 years of directly related experience
- Working in diverse and multicultural populations with a good knowledge of the values, beliefs, and practices of Aboriginal and other cultural and diverse groups
- Leading cultural and spiritual activities and practices with youth and staff at all developmental levels
- Providing educational resources and supports for youth in care
- Extensive TIC training
- Harm Reduction training
- Motivational Interviewing
- Connecting with and maintaining relationships with community supports
- Case plan collaboration and wrap-around collaboration planning

**Required experience**:

- Working within a multi-disciplinary team, preferably with a non-profit
- Single-session model
- Depth or phenomenological psychotherapy sessions
- Crisis management, de-escalation and debrief processing
- Working 1:1 with individuals towards change
- Data colle