Housing Support Staff

**Housing Support Staff**

**Full-time Permanent**

40 hours per week

**Anticipated start date**:ASAP

**Salary**:$22.40-$24.45 per hour
(depending on experience)
Generous Benefit package

**Shift**:Days with evening and weekend hours required as needed.

**Reports to**:Housing Lead

**About 1JustCity**

1JustCity operates drop-in sites in three vulnerable Winnipeg neighborhoods: the West End, West Broadway, and Osborne Village. In the winter months, we also operate an Emergency Overnight Warming Shelter called Just a Warm Sleep.

We provide services to over 1200 unique individuals weekly and work with people living in poverty; experiencing homelessness or precarious housing, mental health issues and/or addiction, social isolation, oppression due to race or gender identity, and more.

Our programs include daily drop-ins, where guests are welcome for healthy meals, a cup of coffee, and social interaction. We also provide an Indigenous Cultural Program which gives accessible opportunities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people alike to experience Indigenous culture and engage in concrete reconciliation action. We provide programs for guests to enhance their lives and resources to assist them in accessing the services they need.

Our work is grounded in relationships, and our drop-ins are places where people are known by name and are loved. While we provide for basic needs, we also strive to offer programs that are transformational and change lives for the better.

Learn more: 1justcity.ca.

The Housing Support Staff assists 1JustCity guests who are homeless or at risk of homelessness or eviction to find housing and help remove barriers that may keep them unhoused. Housing Support Staff is responsible to assist the Program Lead in connecting with guests that require housing support and help navigating the housing market. A significant part of this position is eviction prevention through advocacy with EIA and landlords, and may include helping a client make their existing housing more tenable.

**Responsibilities**
- Connect guests with necessary and relevant resources such as banking and EIA, and help obtain identification, and stable food sources.
- Advocate on behalf of participants on a case-by-case basis with various systems, i.e. Child and Family Services, Employment and Income Assistance, Legal Aid,
Health, Addictions, Justice etc.
- Find housing in accordance with the needs of the guest. May include emergency or transitional housing.
- Coordinate with landlords and caretakers to obtain and maintain housing and prevent eviction.
- Conduct home visits in and provide support as needed such as coordinate cleaning, rent, treatments, etc. to ensure the tenant stays housed.
- Support guests in attaining housing stability through eviction prevention and life skills development (may also include crisis intervention).
- Provide information, referrals and system navigation support to families.
- Support participants to prepare for external appointments and accompany participants to offer support and companionship as needed.
- Assist participants to make informed decisions in hopes of improving their quality of life, and be able to advocate appropriately for themselves.
- Maintain accurate and organized participant related files, statistics, and records of activity, enter data into databases and other information systems and ensure all service statistics are completed in a timely manner.
- Maintain accurate and up-to-date documentation on all interactions with participants.
- Support the strategic direction of 1JustCity’s vision and goals through active engagement, leadership and aid on-going initiatives.

**Essential Skills and Experience**
- Working knowledge of the Province of Manitoba Residential Tenancies Act.
- Excellent advocacy skills as well as knowledge and experience with EIA and housing systems.
- Have a keen awareness of internal and external resources, such as government systems and mechanisms experienced for participants and an ability to establish interim resources where gaps exist.
- Capacity to build and maintain strong relationships with partner agencies, service providers and landlords.
- Demonstrated understanding of working with marginalized communities, including the ability to use an anti-oppression lens and awareness of the social determinants of health.
- Experience working collaboratively with community organizations and with vulnerable populations.
- Must have a familiarity with resources that are available to at-risk individuals in
Winnipeg; specifically housing and social services.
- Must possess knowledge of street life in the inner city including gang activity, substance use, and sexual exploitation.
- Strong understanding of empowerment, harm reduction and trauma informed care philosophies.
- Experience working within the not-for-profit sector.
- Cultural competency skills, knowledge, experience, and awareness.
- Professional and responsible with sensitive and confidential issu