Bilingual Employment Peer Advocate

TITLE:  Bilingual Employment Peer Service Advocate (Bilingual Spanish/English)

REPORTS TO:  Program Manager, Employment Program 

COMPENSATION: $42,320 annually, plus benefits

STATUS:  Full-time, non-exempt, non-union position

DEADLINE:  Open until filled. 

 

ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION:

Founded in 1967, Central City Hospitality House is a progressive, community-based organization located in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood that provides opportunities and resources for personal growth and self-determination to homeless people and neighborhood residents. Our mission is to build community strength by advocating policies and rendering services which foster self-sufficiency and cultural enrichment. We use a peer-based approach and encourage involvement from our participants on various levels of decision-making and service-delivery. 

 

Hospitality House has six programs. The Tenderloin Self-Help Center and Sixth Street Self-Help Center are behavioral health-based community centers that provide a range of emergency and support services using a low-threshold, peer-based, self-help model. The Shelter Program is a small men’s dormitory that provides basic emergency shelter as well as one-on-one case management. The Community Arts Program is a unique space where individuals can create, house and sell artwork, offering open studio hours, workshops, a creative writing class, and an opportunity for artists to exhibit and sell their work. The Community Building Program includes a peer volunteer training program, program activities, and the Healing, Organizing & Leadership Development Program which is a peer internship community organizing program for participants impacted by trauma. The Employment Program offers job readiness services, employment and training resources, and job search support through two neighborhood-based employment resources centers. All programs work together to provide a range of support, resources, and opportunities for people to achieve stability and self-sufficiency.  

 

POSITION DESCRIPTION:

Under the supervision of the Program Manager, the Peer Service Advocate will provide crisis intervention, peer counseling, and employment advocacy in the Employment Services component of the Sixth Street Self-Help Center to motivate participants to engage in services, reduce harm, and improve their physical, emotional, and economic health. The Employment Peer Service Advocate will staff Employment Resource Center (ERC) activities and assure the safety and comfort of participants, providing respectful, compassionate, culturally-competent, attentive treatment of participants as well as effective outreach and engagement of individuals who may have difficulty engaging with services. The Peer Service Advocate will have a working knowledge of resources in San Francisco and will link participants to appropriate programs, accompanying them to appointments and providing advocacy, as needed.  

 

QUALIFICATIONS:

- Bilingual Spanish/English required.

- Two years’ peer counseling experience, particularly working with diverse constituencies or a BA degree and related experience.

- Previous personal experience with poverty, homelessness, mental illness, and/or substance use issues.

- Experience with resume writing and employment resources; excellent documentation and organization skills.

- Ability to familiarize participants with computer usage and to answer technical computer questions; intermediate to advanced knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, and various Internet browsers.

- Demonstrated ability to actively engage & assess people who are experiencing homelessness, active drug use, mental illness, and other barriers to stability and health utilizing the modalities of harm reduction and self-help. Ability to work compassionately with those who have difficulty engaging with service providers. 

- Ability and skill to become familiar with all participants who regularly visit the center and to motivate and engage them into services and activities as they are ready. Ability to develop effective relationships following the principles of harm reduction.

- Ability to effectively resolve conflicts among residents and to de-escalate potentially violent situations. 

- Ability to work professionally and ethically in a team setting, including the ability to maintain a high level of confidentiality.

- Excellent interpersonal communication and active listening skills.

- Ability to attend staff meetings and trainings that are not during regular shift hours. 

 

RESUME & COVER LETTER TO:

Please email your resume and cover letter to personnel@hospitalityhouse.org, or mail them to us at: 

 

Hospitality House/Temporary Employment Peer Service Advocate Search  

290 Turk Street

San Francisco, CA 94102  

Please specify the position for which you are applying. Please NO PHONE CALLS or VISITS. 

 

Hospitality House is an equal opportunity employer. We enthusiastically accept our responsibility to make employment decisions without regard to race, religious creed, color, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, marital status, medical condition as defined under State law, disability, military service, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions or any other classification protected by federal, state, and/or local laws and ordinances. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records