Women's Shelter Wellness Advocate

Are you understanding and sensitive to the experiences and emotions of clients? Are you able to identify issues and find practical solutions to support clients in overcoming barriers? The Mustard Seed is seeking a Women's Shelter Wellness Advocate.

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: Permanent Full-time (40 hours)
Schedule: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m./ Thursday and Friday 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Reporting to: Wellness Advocate Supervisor
City: Calgary
Number of Positions to Fill: 1
RFR #: 1028

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Meet with community members requesting advocacy support and determine their ID, Income, and housing goals with them to prioritize the support they require to achieve their goals;
• Complete the Wellness Advocate intake process;
• 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 women’s shelter 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 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;
• Support advocate supervisor and women’s shelter to ensure coordinated client care;
• Assist with training of new Wellness Advocates and Receptionists;
• Participate in case management teams when required;
• Provide crisis intervention, as necessary;
• Provide input into program evaluation upon request;

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 programs;
• Keep clients’ records and information confidential, updated and secure.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Psychology, or a related field in public health or equivalent required.
• Three to five 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;

WORKING CONDITIONS

• 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;
• Local travel to various Mustard Seed sites and external agencies will be required.

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;
• This position requires the use of a company vehicle. Candidate must have and maintain valid driver’s licence and will need to consent to a driver’s abstract request;
• Must have legal authorization to work in Canada on a full-time basis for anyone other than current employer.

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.