NESI Van Relief Outreach Worker

Career Opportunity

Position Title: NESI Van Relief Outreach Worker

Classification: Support Worker

Job Type: Casual Evening and weekend shift work will be required

Department: Family and Community Services

Location: 55 Eccles St

Reporting to: Manager, Community Engagement

Compensation: $22.71/hr - $27.39/hr plus 14 hours of paid leave and

optional participation in the HOOPP pension plan

Deadline to apply: September 26, 2025 by 5:00pm or until suitable candidate is found

Apply to:

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About us

We are Somerset West Community Health Centre (SWCHC), a non-profit, community-governed organization that serves over 18,000 clients annually. Established in 1978, SWCHC provides a wide range of health care services such as primary health care, health promotion, community development, mental health, and harm reduction. We are deeply connected to the communities we serve and committed to removing barriers to accessing services for people who experience vulnerabilities because of their age, income, ability, sexual orientation or gender identity, and language or culture.

SWCHC strives to ensure that our team reflects the communities we serve. We work within an anti-racist, anti-oppressive framework that acknowledges the existence and impacts of systemic racism and seeks to ensure that systems are fair and equitable for everyone.

What the Program Entails

The NESI Van evening outreach program provides harm reduction supplies, information and education, to people who use drugs across the city, in order to reduce and avoid the risk of transmission of HIV and Hepatitis B & C. The program provides outreach in the Greater Ottawa Area during the evening to reach people who use drugs during non-traditional service hours. The Van distributes sterile injection and inhalation equipment, as well as naloxone and more.

What You'll Do

Reporting to the Community Engagement Manager and under the supervision of the NESI Team Lead, the NESI Van Relief Outreach Worker (NVROW) will work closely with the NESI Van team to support the delivery of harm reduction services to people who use drugs in the City of Ottawa. The NVROW provides support, harm reduction information, education, and harm reduction equipment to drug users to reduce and avoid the risk of transmission of HIV and Hepatitis B and C and promote individual's health and wellbeing. Services are provided using a harm reduction, trauma-informed approach. This position requires evening and weekend shifts. The NESI Van evening services operate Monday – Saturday, 4:45 pm – 11:45 pm.

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What We're Looking For

❖ Life and Work Experience

• "List the required lived and work experience for this position, including specific knowledge, computer proficiency, and other relevant hard skills."
• Applicants must possess a minimum of two (2) to three (3) years of recent, relevant professional experience in the following areas:
• Working with people who use drugs and populations most at risk for HIV, HCV, and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs)
• Delivering harm reduction services
• Conducting street-based outreach
• Supporting individuals with addictions, mental health challenges, and experiences of homelessness
• Providing crisis intervention and de-escalation support
• Lived experience of drug use and/or experience in advocacy for persons who use drugs considered an asset
• Risk reduction strategies related to HIV, Hepatitis A, B, and C, STIs
• Commitment to working from a health equity and anti-oppressive lens
• Knowledge of and experience with a harm reduction, trauma-informed and person-centred approach
• Knowledge of related health services, social services, and community resources
• Positive and empowering approach regarding drug use, sex, sex work
• Excellent knowledge of overdose identification and response
• Flexibility with the ability to adapt and re-prioritize tasks to effectively respond to changing client needs.
• Ability and comfortable with computers, online reporting templates and ensuring timely completion of reporting obligations
• Knowledge of health promotion, disease prevention, behaviour change and health teaching
• Sound judgment and strong problem-solving skills
• Ability to set priorities and manage time effectively

❖ Your Education Path

• Bachelor's degree in social work or related health discipline, or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience, including lived/living experience of substance use and/or experience in advocacy for persons who use drugs considered assets
• Successful completion of criminal reference check with Vulnerable Sector
• Current CPR/First Aid certification
• NCVI
• ASSIST
• Needle exchange and safer inhalation equipment and strategies training

❖ Required Language

• Fluency in English required.
• Working knowledge of French an asset.

What You Bring to the Table

• Excellent communication skills and sensitivity to people with differing values and belief systems, people with physical/mental health challenges
• Ability to de-escalate conflicts in an effective manner
• Effective organizational, critical thinking, problem solving and decision-making skills
• Ability to work collaboratively in an interdisciplinary team
• Ability and comfort with computers, online reporting templates and ensuring timely completion of reporting obligations
• Ability to work with people with concurrent disorders
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment managing multiple competing demands
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Excellent communication skills
• Sound judgment and strong problem-solving skills
• Ability to work independently, set priorities and manage time effectively
• Strong clinical assessment and documentation skills
• Demonstrated ability and expertise working with clients in crisis
• Expertise in non-violent crisis intervention and de-escalation
• Knowledge of concurrent mental health distress presentations including psychosis, trauma and emotional dysregulation
• Extensive knowledge of community resources available and service navigation
• Effective organizational, critical thinking, problem solving and decision-making skills
• Ability to work collaboratively in an interdisciplinary team
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment managing multiple competing demands
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Commitment to the principles of health equity, inclusion and anti-racism/anti-oppression

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Your Day-to-Day at a Glance

As our NESI Van Relief Outreach Worker, your responsibilities are:

• Conducts delivery and collection of harm-reduction supplies in a variety of conventional and non-conventional settings across the city
• Stock, prepare, clean Outreach Van at the start and end of each shift
• Respond to calls for service on the NESI Van outreach phone
• Provide harm reduction supplies, including sterile injection, inhalation supplies, naloxone
• Provide education on safer drug use, safer sex, HIV/HCV/STBBI disease prevention, overdose prevention
• Connect clients with relevant resources and referrals
• Support the collection and entering of relevant data, along with end of shift reports
• Preserves confidentiality of all client and employee information and seeks to minimize risk while working with data
• Submits records of time worked and time off in a timely manner,
• Complies and adheres to all applicable Centre policies and procedures,
• Provides information about community resources and refers clients accordingly
• Assist clients in obtaining resources for healthier living (e.g. condoms, personal care items)
• Assists clients in accessing health care services through referrals, information provision
• This position may require the ability to lift and carry items, ~approx. 50lbs.
• This position requires the ability to drive, including at night, with potential distractions from passengers.
• This position requires the ability to make rapid decisions about safety and risk and a high degree of clinical judgment with unknown factors.
• This position will require the ability to assess the safety of entering unknown locations (usually in public), including at night to engage with people who may be in crisis.
• This role involves daily collection of used inhalation and injection equipment which carries the risk of potential needle stick injuries and exposure to blood borne pathogens.
• This position requires the ability to work within an extremely fast-paced environment with multiple priorities
• This position requires the ability to work within a large team of people from diverse backgrounds and life experiences as well as from partner agencies.
• This position requires strong communication and conflict management skills.
• This role will require daily, effectively prioritizing multiple, urgent competing tasks.
• This role involves potential exposure to significant psychological and emotional stressors, vicarious trauma and potential risk of violence

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Ready to Apply?

Take your career to the next level Submit a cover letter and your resume by 5:00pm on September 26, 2025, or until suitable candidate is found to:

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Somerset West Community Health Centre is an equal opportunity employer who values the diversity of individuals in our programs and services.

We welcome and encourage applications from members of Indigenous, Black and racialized communities, Two-Spirit, nonbinary, LGBTQ+ people; people with disabilities; and members of other equity seeking groups. Applicants are encouraged to share accessibility needs in the application process, and every attempt will be made to accommodate them.

We sincerely appreciate your interest in working with us. Due to high volume of applicants, we can neither confirm receipt of nor respond to inquiries regarding your application. Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.