Peer Support Worker

At Support House, we open doors, minds, and possibilities. We build opportunities, we inspire change, and we transform health care. We believe everyone deserves support.

Support House is directed by our core values. They guide our agency’s decisions and actions, unite our staff, define our brand, and inspire our culture. We connect by building meaningful relationships. We put people first by supporting them to direct their own path. We focus on holistic wellness. We foster engagement through designing housing, supports and the system together.

Support House offers supportive housing options, community outreach, peer support and building system capacity.

**Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion**

**Our Peer Support Services**
- A Peer Support Worker is someone who has a similar life experience to those our Agency supports (mental health and/or addiction concerns, justice involvement, homelessness).
- Peer Support Workers have engaged in special training and skill development to utilize the Peer Support values and their lived experience in a meaningful way to enhance their ability to support people in living the life they want to live.
- Peer Support offers goal-focused, strengths-based connections that provide supportive conversations around wellness tools & strategies, and connection to community resources.
- Peer Support Services can be offered one-to-one or group-based, within the community or virtually.

**The main purpose of this position**

The Peer Support Worker, Support House Response Team, will be responsible for providing one-to-one community-based peer support across the Halton region supporting people who are unhoused and who experience mental health and substance use concerns. The team will work within the community meeting people where they are at, including shelters, supportive housing and street level outreach.

This position is a part of an assertive outreach team where communication and team building is paramount to support positive outcomes for the people we support. You will work closely together to respond quickly to community homelessness support needs including crisis and distress.

Areas of focus during Peer Support can include community resource navigation, housing security, employment & education, self-advocacy, wellness tools & strategies, and activities of daily living.

**Responsibilities**
- Internal Role_
- Connecting with people 16+ within the unhoused population who experience mental health and substance use concerns.
- Emphasis on building relationships/rapport with individuals using creativity and patience.
- Attending shelters, community spaces, and any other location where people may be in need of mental health / substance use and housing support.
- Act as a role model in self-care, self-awareness, and wellness tools
- Share your common experiences with people as relevant.
- Working alongside community partners to address immediate support needs including crisis, housing, and/or justice.
- Focus on preventing, de-escalating, navigating and stabilizing crisis situations including supporting individuals experiencing social and physical harms associated with chronic substance use, ongoing suicidal ideation and other harmful emotional or behavioral situations
- Providing support and resources for harm reduction and prevention in order to improve people’s wellness.
- Promoting a decrease in justice system participation and possible incarceration through in-depth assessments and collaboratively creating individualized care plans considering justice involvement and ensuring intentional pathways to other relevant justice supports
- Supporting individuals around their complex housing and tenancy needs, including but not limited to supportive housing placements, rent supplement options and landlord relationship building
- Facilitate peer-led group-based self-help/wellness programming and back-up as required.
- External Role _
- Work in close collaboration with Halton Housing Help, shelter, and any other relevant organization’s staff to ensure wrap around supports for individuals.
- Represent Support House’s values and philosophies.
- Be knowledgeable around Support House’s services and supports.
- Understand how various social locations or identity factors impact access to, and experiences with, mental health, housing, and substance use supports.
- Promote every door is the right door and provide warm connections to appropriate partners.
- Professional Development_
- Aligning your practice with your professional discipline code of conduct and ethics as relevant to your role
- Remain current with trainings and learning opportunities.
- Participate in regular supervision, annual reviews and debriefs with supervisor and team.
- Participate in relevant Communities of Practice
- Personal Development _
- Regular personal reflection and awareness around how you are showing up to work and recognizing self-awareness strategies to inform your work.
- Be open and share any work-related needs t