CIC Wellness Advocate

Do you have the ability to understand and share the feelings of others and provide support to those in need? Are you able to represent and support clients' needs and rights within the community and healthcare systems? The Mustard Seed is looking for a Wellness Advocate. 

The Wellness Advocate position will be based at The Mustard Seed's Community Impact Center. This center serves clients experiencing homelessness within the local community and neighborhood while providing comprehensive, wrap-around supports and programming tailored to meet their diverse needs. The Wellness Advocate is committed to helping people who are experiencing poverty, housing instability, and other barriers to assist them in transitioning toward and maintaining sustainable and healthy lifestyles. The Wellness Advocate works as part of an interdisciplinary allied health team and connects clients with any needed external and internal resources.

Employment Type: Full time
Schedule: Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Reporting to: Senior Director Health and Wellness
City: Edmonton
Number of Positions to Fill: 1
RFR #: 1792

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Meet with community members requesting advocacy support
• to assess their identification, income, and housing objectives, and collaborate with them to prioritize the assistance needed to achieve these goals
• Complete the Wellness Advocate intake process, client goal setting and necessary data entry  
• Build and maintain positive relationships with clients and create a welcoming, respectful, inclusive, and safe environment for them  
• Educate and empower clients to understand and achieve their rights and responsibilities, to facilitate their full participation in society  
• Contribute to general health and wellness and community impact center programming including supporting or facilitating group initiatives and programs that increase knowledge and awareness of community health
• Liaise with internal and external resources that will help clients achieve their goals if the support is beyond the scope of services provided by the Wellness Advocate. This includes maintaining existing partnerships as well as working with the Supervisor in developing new partnerships
• In regards to clients who have a Caseworker, compliment the work of the Caseworkers by acting as a consultant and liaison for issues that require client access to external resources  
• In regards to clients who do not have a Caseworker, refer these individuals directly to internal and external resources  
• Advocate for clients as needed both to access resources within and outside the organization
• Maintain relationships with agency partners and volunteers
• Ensure clients accessed external resources by completing follow up with guests and agencies
• Contribute to community programs facilitation as needed
• Follow protocols to ensure sanitized and organized professional workspace  
• Assist with training of new Wellness Advocates and Receptionists
• Participate in case management teams when required
• Support advocate supervisor and community site lead to ensure coordinated client care
• Provide crisis intervention, as necessary   
• Provide input into program evaluation upon request  
• Other duties as assigned.

Administration

• Build a comprehensive library and knowledge base on community resources   
• Share and disseminate community resource information   
• Track assigned clients' progress with external resources   
• Communicate relevant information to Caseworker about interactions with clients and observed behavior   
• Document client interactions, client referrals and client progress on documentation platforms (platforms vary with each city)   
• Track statistics and prepare reports, as required   
• Attend meetings and training, as assigned  
• Serve on internal and external committees, as requested   
• Provide input into the development of policies and procedures for designated program  
• Keep clients' records and information confidential, updated and secure
• Participate in training as required to ensure safety of staff and clients.

 
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

• Bachelor's degree in social work, psychology, or a related field in public health or equivalent required
• 1-3 years of related working experience preferred 
• Competent in use of MS Office   
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Excellent administrative, time management and organizational skills 
• Self-motivated and ability to work independently 
• Strong commitment to supporting individuals experiencing homelessness and shows adaptability working with clients with diverse and complex needs
• Possession of a Class 5 driver's license, access to a reliable vehicle with $2 million liability     Insurance and a clean driving abstract required.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• As The Mustard Seed is a Christian ministry, we require our employees sign an agreement indicating that they will respect and not detract from our Statement of Faith
• Time in excess of regular working hours may be required on occasion.
• This position is primarily an office position
• Ability to lift up to 50 lbs
• Driving to various Local Mustard Seed sites and external agencies required on occasion
• The working environment for this position requires moderate amounts of walking, standing, sitting, and daily interactions with colleagues and guests
• Employees are to be aware that many of our clients may experience difficulties or impairment at times, which could result in them uttering threats, discriminatory statements, and other insults at your person. This may in a raised voice, or in seeing unpredictable behaviour up to and including the possibility of them becoming aggressive
• Training on how to respond is provided, but this is to be considered typical working conditions. Many of our clients are unaware of the impact of these comments

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• An Employment Background Check is required for all positions at The Mustard Seed
• As The Mustard Seed is a Christian ministry, we require our employees to agree to respect and not detract from The Mustard Seed's Employment Values during their employment at The Mustard Seed.
• Must have legal authorization to work in Canada on a full-time basis for anyone other than current employer
• This position may require the use of a company vehicle, and/or a personal vehicle for company use. The candidate must have a valid driver's licence, maintain $2M Vehicle Liability Insurance on any personal vehicle being used, and may need to provide consent for a driver's abstract request.
• Please submit a copy of your cover letter along with your resume.

NOTE

• Your privacy is important to us. The information we collect is used solely for consideration for employment.
• We thank all candidates for their interest, however, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
• The Mustard Seed reserves the right to amend job advertisements. No phone calls please.
• Please visit our careers page to see more job opportunities.