Housing Specialist - Back Helene - Buncombe Co, NC

*** This is a time limited grant funded position ending in October 2026 with a set pay rate of $28.8461 per hour.***

Remote - must live in or near Buncombe County, North Carolina. Incumbent in this role must be a resident of North Carolina or live within 40 miles of the NC border. Travel is required for this position.

Vaya's Housing Specialist for Back at Home is responsible for implementing Vaya's Back at Home Helene program aimed to provide quality housing stabilization (case management, outreach, system navigation, housing navigation) to people experiencing homelessness in rural and urban areas (Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Caldwell, McDowell, Mitchell, Watauga, Wilkes, Yancey ). Housing Specialist will collaborate with the state's Multi Agency Shelter Transition Team (MASTT) and homeless service system's Continuum of Care(s) (CoC) to outreach and identify households with service needs in disaster shelters, homeless shelters, and unsheltered locations.

Housing Specialist will connect households to the homeless service system, provide system navigation to services and benefits, support households as they identify and move to permanent housing (through the Coordinated Entry system in each CoC region) and assist them in maintaining their housing up to six months after being housed.

Housing Specialist will maintain a caseload of approximately thirty (30) households and provide person-centered, trauma-informed services. This position must be filled by an individual who has a passion for social justice work, is a team player, and committed to working alongside people as they transition out of homelessness into permanent and stable housing.

Vaya's Back at Home Helene program is an evidence-based practice that provides housing stabilization to households experiencing homelessness under the Department of Housing Urban Development (HUD), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA), North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness, and the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency guidance for this program.

The Housing Specialist, in collaboration with Vaya's Housing Manager, ensures that all housing activities are delivered in accordance with the terms and conditions of the DMH/DD/SAS Contract, and guidelines/manuals/protocols/procedures established by the Department of Health and Human Services, federal and state rules and regulations, best practices, standards, and internal Vaya policies/procedures/manuals/guidelines.

• Provide supportive services and develop trusting relationships with a caseload of at least 30 households in various stages of the housing process
• Exercise patience, understanding, and concern for each participant's well-being, safety, development, and enjoyment of life
• Ensure that participant interactions are person-centered, goal-focused and reflect each participant's goal plan
• Work with each participant to develop and/or strengthen their housing stability plan according to participant goals and objectives to obtain and maintain housing
• Assist households experiencing homelessness in obtaining appropriate vital documents such as birth certificates, social security cards, and IDs
• Work with Housing Collaborative on hybrid housing navigation (Housing Collaborative will take primary responsibility for housing search and navigation for the household, as well as unit recruitment, landlord engagement, and housing placement)
• Provide some aspects of housing navigation including helping the participant with documentation for housing applications, establishing housing preferences, supporting lease-up/move-in processes, and offering transportation to see potential units, for example
• Assist in moving in and moving out participants (must be able to lift up to 50 lbs.) and cleaning unit
• Maintain positive working relationships with local public housing authorities (PHA) and HUD Administrative agencies to improve access and increase the supply of housing resources for specialty populations
• Maintain contact with all participants on a scheduled basis, appropriate to their status and needs, including contact in their homes and in the community
• Provide participants training and support in the areas of personal hygiene, accessing community resources, medical adherence, household cleanliness and management or other needs as outlined in the participant's housing stability plan
• Support participants to maintain housing stability through individually tailored services and by facilitating effective connections to community services and resources - examples of support services include successful tenancy problem-solving, independent living skill-building, connection to public benefits and employment assistance, money management support, and connection to medical, mental health, and substance use disorder services. Facilitate move-in process
• Perform annual re-certifications for each household and accurately update files as…