Drop-in Program Assistant

**JOB SUMMARY**:
**ABOUT WISH**

**DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES**:

- Providing participants with referrals to services and supports outside of WISH.
- Working as a team player with shift mates to make collective decisions (including ban recommendations), for the benefit and safety of participants, coworkers, and volunteers in the space.
- Ensuring equal access to Drop-in services and resources to all participants in a non-judgmental, non-preferential way.
- Responding to critical incidents with a trauma-informed lens by implementing immediate crisis intervention techniques in attempts to deescalate participants from anxious or otherwise triggered emotional states; other emotional supports; and/or medical or legal referrals as needed.
- Providing emotional support to participants who have experienced a ‘bad date’ through active listening, debriefing, validating participants’ emotions, and assisting with Bad Date Reports.
- Assisting with meal preparation, serving, and kitchen clean-up as needed.
- Performing necessary domestic duties (i.e. dishes, laundry, cleaning, sweeping, and mopping etc.) to the extent that it is required at open, close, and throughout all shifts.
- Conducting participant intake via New Face Conversations to ensure participants fit the WISH mandate and work one-on-one with participants to determine their needs.
- Maintaining and providing daily statistics and reports regarding service delivery as required, including obtaining and recording demographic information of participants.
- Providing immediate crisis response and intervention as necessary to support participants in feeling safe and capable in making their own choices.
- Supporting participants’ interests and rights by referring participants to legal aid, medical resources and policing professionals and other relevant programs and resources.
- Working to assess participants’ need for other services and provides them with information on helping organizations and professionals such as community service agencies, counsellors, legal aid lawyers, physicians and mental health services. Recommends appropriate services to participants.
- Providing information and support on safety and violence prevention to participants to empower women to make safe and healthy choices for themselves.
- Providing job shadowing for new staff, as well as training and mentoring of volunteers. Modeling of appropriate centre behaviours as well as the mission, vision, and core values of WISH.
- Accepting physical donations from community members, interacting with them positively, and transferring the donations into the storage areas.
- Performing first aid treatment as required.
- Providing overdose prevention and response, and responding to critical incidents in order to maintain the safety of all staff, participants, and volunteers in the space.
- Providing appropriate advocacy and support to the women by supplying information and referrals.
- Maintaining positive and constructive working relationships with coworkers through teamwork, collaboration, and debriefing.
- Actively participating in staff meetings and communicating with Drop-in leadership in a constructive way to best support participants and maintain the safety of the space.
- Other related duties as required.

**QUALIFICATIONS**:
**Education and Knowledge**:

- Certificate in a related human / social service field
- Knowledge and understanding of Indigenous peoples and the legacy of colonization, the Residential school system, the 60’s Scoop, and lasting cyclical trauma.
- Knowledge of gender diversity and trans-inclusivity.

**Training and Experience**:

- 1 year working in front line social services in the Downtown Eastside or similar community.
- Or an equivalent combination of education, training, experience, and lived experience.

**Additional Requirements**:

- Maintain healthy workplace boundaries.
- Be able to stand for extended periods of time, carry out cleaning duties, and safely carry up to 20lbs when required while transporting supplies and/or donations.
- Possess a demonstrated ability to support vulnerable women compassionately and non
- judgmentally while maintaining strong personal boundaries.
- Possess strong collaboration and empathetic communication skills.
- Ability to respond to emergencies and proven experience in crisis de-escalation techniques.
- Hard-worker, self-starter and able to work as part of a team.

**Compensation & Work Environment**
- $27.29 per hour
- Paid sick days
- 14 recognized stat holidays per year
- Regular PT employees working over 20 hours per week are eligible for benefits enrollment as detailed by the Collective Agreement, premiums are covered entirely by WISH
- Casual employees receive a pay benefit of 10.2% in lieu of vacation and stat earned pay
- Unionized position (CUPE Local 1936)

**Job Types**: Part-time, Permanent, Casual

**Salary**: From $27.29 per hour

**Benefits**:

- Casual dress

Schedule:

- Day shift
- Evening shift
- N