Housing Support Coordinator (0.8 FTE)

We are seeking an individual who is passionate about promoting health and wellness equity in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) to assist Kilala Lelum Health and Wellness Cooperative in the role of Housing Support Coordinator. Our Elder-guided, multidisciplinary team of healthcare providers, allied health professionals, and community members provides health care and harm reduction services through a culturally-safe, trauma-informed, and decolonizing approach. Please see https://kilalalelum.ca for more details. 

The Social Navigation team is comprised of Social Navigators (our reimagined version of Social Workers) who provide care and support to members (patients) and families who are adversely affected by the social determinants of health and who experience health challenges including chronic disease, substance use, and mental illness. The Social Navigation team has secured ongoing funding to provide housing-focused support and resources (funds available for members) to address houselessness and housing insecurity. The Housing Support Coordinator is positioned to support the implementation of these services.

Job Summary:

The Housing Support Coordinator (0.8 FTE) will work closely with Social Navigators to provide housing support services to members living in the DTES. The Housing Coordinator role is integral in that it helps establish therapeutic relationships with folks in the DTES in order to improve access to cultural connections and healthcare services.

The Housing Support Coordinator will work with the Social Navigators to develop and implement Housing Plans, which may include: helping to organize members’ moves; supporting members to set up a new home (ex: acquiring furniture and household items); supporting members to develop housing-related skills (ex: cleaning); and supporting members to prevent loss of housing (ex: pest control, neighbour/landlord relations, reducing belongings, liaising and advocating with building staff). The Housing Support Coordinator will document their work in OSCAR EMR (Electronic Medical Records), track relevant stats related to grant funding, provide verbal reports on observations to the Social Navigation team, and conduct outreach and follow-up check-ins.

Responsibilities:

• Create, track, implement, and modify Housing Plans for up to 35 members annually (combination of new placements and housing loss prevention).
• Establish strong connections and build rapport with other housing programs in the DTES; liaise with BC Housing and attend housing-specific meetings; represent the organization and strive to uplift the voices of the community and members who access all Kilala Lelum programs.
• Collaborate with Social Navigation Outreach Workers to coordinate moving members, address home-related issues, and source and acquire furniture and household items from different resources (as appropriate and feasible; not expected to move heavy furniture).
• Conduct a monthly housing-specific drop-in session for members onsite at Kilala Lelum.
• Manage the budget allocated to this role, maintain receipts, and submit spending reports for relevant expenses; reconcile monthly transactions from the corporate credit card, including classifying expenses in relevant categories and retaining/attaching all receipts in Tallie (expense reporting software) to assist the Finance team in monthly reporting.
• Work with members to develop and enhance housing-related skills such as budgeting, cleaning, reducing belongings, and communicating with neighbours, landlords, and building managers.
• Support members with pest control, storage, and other procedures. 
• Accompany and/or transport members for housing-related needs (such as to access temporary accommodation during pest control).
• Facilitate the use of community services/resources, such as food sources.
• Communicate and collaborate with Social Navigators and the interprofessional care team at Kilala Lelum.
• Manage the KL storage unit for member short-term storage.
• Document work in OSCAR EMR and secondary grant-specific database.
• Act as an advocate for members’ health and wellness needs.
• Establish, maintain, and enhance therapeutic relationships based on respect.

Qualifications & Skills:

• Minimum two (2) years of recent relevant work experience, with strong preference for experience working in housing services and/or with: people affected by houselessness and housing insecurity, women-identifying people who’ve experienced intimate partner violence, people who experience health challenges including chronic disease, substance use, and mental illness. Experience working in the DTES is an asset. 
• Strong organizational skills, with experience coordinating services and/or care as an asset. Demonstrated ability to create a system to manage own schedule and coordinate service delivery to a caseload of 12-20 members at a time.
• Training in de-escalation or non-violent crisis intervention, mental health first aid, and/or a certificate or diploma in a related field (ex: Community Services Worker, Counselling) an asset. 
• Demonstrated understanding of and commitment to cultural safety. Experience and knowledge of Indigenous peoples and Indigenous culture extremely beneficial. Completion of a cultural competency course or willingness to participate required.
• Intermediate computer skills to operate OSCAR, secondary database, communicate via email, manage a budget, and submit spending reports; ability to reconcile monthly credit card statements and maintain accurate reporting with support from the Finance team.
• Knowledge and experience in trauma-informed and strength-based practice, harm reduction, and recovery-oriented care preferred.
• Ability to deal effectively with conflict, manage aggressive behaviour, and use non-violent crisis intervention and behavioural management techniques.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a diverse, integrated team.
• Ability to: establish/maintain satisfactory work relationships with the public and other employees; deal tactfully and effectively with co-workers, public, and staff from other agencies; maintain confidentiality; and communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
• Valid BC Driver’s License strongly preferred, or willingness to obtain upon accepting position considered.

Working Conditions:

• Requires physical ability to carry out the duties of the position (walking up to 5km/day, ability to meet members offsite at relevant locations).
• Homebase will be at one of the Kilala Lelum sites on Powell Street other work will take place offsite, including at partner sites, hotels, SROs, and private apartments following the safety guidelines demonstrated by the Social Navigation team. Given the organization’s cooperative nature, space is dynamic and shared.
• This position will likely spend approximately ⅔ of their time offsite doing service delivery.

Supervision Provided:

This position is supervised by the Allied Health Lead and will receive support from the Social Navigation team, the HR and Admin Lead, and the Executive Director.

Additional Information:

• Anticipated start date May 2024.
• Successful candidate will complete role-specific training prior to commencing employment (more information to be provided during interview). 
• Hourly salary starts at $35.35/hour with scheduled annual raises and inflationary adjustment as per the Kilala Lelum wage grid and compensation policies.
• Schedule of work will be agreed upon with the Allied Health Lead to meet the requirements of 0.8 FTE (32 hours/week). 
• Our compensation includes a robust extended health and dental benefits package.
• Kilala Lelum Health Centre is committed to equity and diversity, and we encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or membership or self-identification as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person.
• Preference may be given to candidates who are Indigenous, Black or racialized, people with diverse gender identities or expressions, and/or, people with disabilities. It will greatly assist us with screening if you refer in your application to these stated preferences. Recognizing the impacts of discrimination, we ask for a brief statement only, to the degree you feel comfortable sharing. One of our guiding principles is to operate in a trauma-informed manner and thus, it is your choice whether to volunteer information. We will hold your application in strictest confidence, sharing it only with the hiring panel.

To Apply:

Please send your resume AND cover letter to [email protected]. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered. Your cover letter should outline your interest in the role, how your background and experience meet the requirements, and what makes you a good fit for the role. Applications will be assessed and interviews scheduled until the position is filled.

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