Come join our team!

Position: Housing Coordinator

Reports to: Directors

Status: Non-Exempt

Part Time: 20 hours/week

Location: Ypsilanti, Michigan

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PURPOSE OF POSITION:

Our House is a Washtenaw County nonprofit supporting teens and young adults who have experienced foster care. We provide mentoring, education and employment guidance, and housing support for a population that is often overlooked and generally lacks the support of significant people in their lives to keep them anchored. Our goal is to surround them with the people and support they need to become successful, self-sufficient and independent.

We are looking for an enthusiastic, empathetic leader who shares our passion for helping youth who have experienced foster care. The Nest program is a shared living program for pregnant and parenting teens ? years of age. Living in the residence, the Housing Coordinator is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the home, ensuring housing standards are met and creating a safe, nurturing and organized environment for all residents.

Reporting to the Directors, candidates should possess strong collaboration, leadership, teambuilding and communication skills to engage with a diverse group of residents. Flexibility is a must.

Hours and Specifications:

Our House is excited to open our newest program for pregnant and parenting teens in foster care. The Nest is designed to provide supported independent living to teens as they prepare to age out of foster care and learn to manage the responsibilities of caring for their pregnancy and/or child. Youth will engage in mentoring, lifeskills support, parenting classes, and have case management and health education support. The Nest provides 16+ hours per day of staff support to program participants.

The Housing Coordinator plays a vital role in the operations for the Nest program. The Housing Coordinator lives on-site to provide support, crisis response, coaching, to youth and staff during scheduled and assigned on-call hours. The Housing Coordinator will be responsible for creating schedules for the staff and youth in the Nest program, maintaining safety, cleanliness, and culture in all Nest locations, and providing direct support to the youth. This position is compensated through a combination of room and board, and 20 hours per week at $17 per hour.

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GENERAL RESPONSILIBILITIES:

On-Site Operations: Responsible for everything that takes place in the home.

• Responsible for communicating effectively with the Executive Director and providing, in a timely and accurate manner, all information necessary for the home to be safe, organized, and function properly.

Housing Program Operations:

• Help ensure program participants are successful and that program requirements are met and documented.

• Ensure any issues or concerns are addressed in a timely manner and properly documented.

Life Skills Development: Assist in providing the education and practice of skills necessary to live successfully both independently and within a community.

• Assist in the planning, implementation, and reinforcement of life skills training within the home and agency.

List of actual responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Serve as a role model to young adults in residence by modeling responsible behaviors. Provide encouragement, support and structure for The Nest participants.

• Recruit, meet, screen, and recommend youth for participation in the Our House ILP program, communicating effectively to engage, excite, answer questions, and assess fit with agency programs and eligibility in concert with the agency team.

• Coordinating and providing care that is safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, and client-centered

• Create and maintain schedule for

• Manage the process for onboarding new participants, regularly communicating status to the potential participant and agency team.

• Assist in the planning and implementation of life skills training within the agency.

• Reinforce and develop life skills in-home by providing at least an hour of education/coaching per young adult on a weekly basis, including but not limited to household chores, cooking, and grocery shopping on a budget.

• Facilitate and /or participate in "house meetings" to review house rules, plan activities or discuss other needs of the house/group.

• Provide feedback on participant needs or issues and facilitate follow-up with

participants.

• Maintain adequate awareness of young adults and visitor activities to ensure the safety of the youth, other residents, visitors and the home are maintained. Report non-compliance with home rules to the Directors.

• Work closely with the Directors to identify, evaluate and propose solutions to program areas that need special attention. Assist in ensuring program and participants meet program operational goals.

• Support mentor goals with individual participants as needed and requested.

• Work with landlords, contractors, the Directors or appropriate party when maintenance issues arise, reporting issues in a timely manner.

• Maintain relationships and ongoing communication about our services with community partners to ensure ongoing positive relationships and collaboration.

• Develop, implement, and reinforce the ILP Lifeskills programs, including engaging curriculum which provide the education and practice of life skills necessary to live successfully both independently and within a community in an age-appropriate manner in collaboration with other staff, mentors, and community partners as appropriate.

• Co-develop Personal Development Plans and Individual Budgets with mentors and participants, promoting and monitoring goal achievement of mentees.

• Meet with each participant weekly and provide feedback on participant needs or issues and facilitate follow-up with participants and mentors.

• Provide emergency intervention to participants for situations needing immediate, additional support. This will include occasional on-call duties.

• Conduct assessments on incoming youth and periodically, as required by MDHHS Licensure and Contract standards.

• Other duties as assigned by the Director.

JOB QUALIFICATIONS:

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, Psychology or similar field preferred.

• A combination of education and experience will be considered.

• Professional training in social work, social services or child development.

Experience

• Demonstrated experience in positions of similar responsibility.

• Experience working in a group home or residential setting is preferred.

• Experience working with young adults who have experienced foster care preferred.

Skills and Abilities

• Ability and willingness to display compassion and sensitivity to young adults.

• Ability and willingness to relate and educate young adults who are in transition to independent living. Ability to deal with a variety of circumstances; ability to recognize problems and respond and/or take appropriate action.

• Ability to work creatively and effectively as part of a team as well as independently with minimal supervision.

• Ability to effectively communicate with others on an interpersonal level.

• Ability to understand the cultural and socioeconomic characteristics of the young adults served.

• Ability to guide young adults in understanding and applying basic life management skills.

• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral or diagram form.

• Ability to maintain confidentiality of participant’s information.

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