Community Engagement Specialist

Job Title: Community Engagement Specialist

Location: 61 Arch Street, New Britain, CT (Hope Connection Center)

Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm. This position is classified as ESSENTIAL and requires the employee to report to work during inclement weather.

Type: Non-Exempt, Full-Time, starting at $22/hr contingent upon funding

Reports to: Homelessness Hub Manager

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Instill the mission of the FSC in your daily work: “Our work is love made visible”.
• Ability to work with diverse populations, individually and as a part of a team, with a commitment to ending homelessness in our community.
• In conjunction with other FSC staff, support operations for Hope Connection Center (HCC) program, monitoring the space, communicating any changes in behavior or observations relevant to program delivery that the team may need to be aware of;
• Maintain a tracking system of meal, laundry, clothing, and shower services, managing supply inventory, keeping track of items delivered, and keeping storage areas clean and stocked;
• Conduct intakes into Hope Connection Center’s program enrollment in Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and tracking client’s housing history during intake via a case note;
• Engage all community members coming to HCC to ensure that if they are new to the space that they are connected to additional resources as needed;
• Schedule same day/walk-in appointments to meet with the Diversion Specialist for clients who are assessed to be in housing crisis, conducting homelessness assessments when able;
• Complete document readiness with clients, facilitating the application and/or request of vital documents (State ID, social security card, birth certificate) and ensuring copies of all documents are scanned and uploaded into HMIS;
• Answer phones professionally and politely with a focus on customer service and solution-based resolution;
• Assist in the cleaning and turnover of shower services, ensuring clients adhere to time limits and the space is ready for the next participant;
• Mitigate any issues on the floor using a Harm Reduction approach, alerting others for assistance when appropriate, and adhering to Incident Reporting protocol when necessary;
• Engage all community members coming to HCC to ensure that if they are new to the space that they are connected to additional resources as needed;
• Communicate with internal and external Emergency Shelter, Street Outreach, and Diversion Specialists regarding client activity, conferencing as needed to support holistic case plans;
• Compile a daily report of activities that occurred during the shift;
• Attend all workshops, trainings and meetings as assigned;

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice at the discretion of the employer.

Minimum Qualifications:

• High School Diploma or GED;

• Experience working with people experiencing homelessness strongly preferred;

• Good computer skills; written and verbal communication skills; able to remain calm in crisis.

• Bilingual English/Spanish is highly preferred.

Skills, Qualifications and Requirements:

To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies to perform the essential functions of this position.

: Staff is a dependable team player within their department, across departments, and with community colleagues (when appropriate);

consistently at work and on time, reports to all scheduled shifts; follows instructions, responds to management direction; staff's communication style invites collaboration;

: Staff is proactive in identifying and resolving issues, versus leaving them for someone else; staff is solution-focused, and takes pride in their work; able to oversee day-to-day operations of self and a team, staying ahead of deadlines and maintaining productive time-keeping for self and others; solicits feedback to improve personal performance, and completes tasks in a timely and accurate manner;

Staff acts with integrity and practices ethical decision-making; takes responsibility for mistakes instead of making excuses, and uses challenging experiences as opportunities to improve; able to navigate hard conversations with staff, participants, and peers with respect;

Staff is flexible, and engages in outside-of-the-box thinking to ensure work is completed and good decisions are made; open, accountable, and able to work with individuals from various backgrounds and at different skill levels; able to multitask and manage crises;

Physical Requirements:

The physical requirements described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential duties of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties.

• The ability to safely operate a motor vehicle to transport oneself, others and program supplies as necessary.

• The physical ability to travel to assigned locations, stand, stoop, bend, reach, pull, push, lift, grasp, climb, talk, see, hear and perform basic and light home maintenance activities, and operate office equipment.

• The physical ability to move and lift light objects up to 30 pounds such as mail, supplies, files, and equipment.

• The ability to operate office equipment requiring continuous or repetitive hand/arm movements. The ability to remain in a sitting position for extended periods of time.

• Maintain auto insurance minimum limits as follows – 1) single liability limits of $100,000 Bodily Injury Per Person / $300,000 Bodily Injury Per Accident / $50,000 Property Damage OR Combined Single Liability Limit of $300,000 (this combines the bodily injury and property damage into one limit per claim) and annually provide a declarations page to the Director of Human Resources.

Pay: $22.00 per hour

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person