Advocate

Description

About YWCA South Hampton Roads YWCA South Hampton Roads (YWCA SHR) is the oldest and largest multicultural women’s organization in the world. YWCA SHR is dedicated to the fullness of its mission to eliminate racism, empower women and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.

Serving approximately 8,000 individuals each year, YWCA SHR is a source of strength, courage and empowerment for women and families facing crisis. We are a community catalyst for meaningful change and the advocate for shaping vital impact through quality services responding to the critical needs of survivors of sexual violence and domestic violence. YWCA SHR works across racial, gender, religious and social lines with organizations-partners in all sectors to educate about disparities, advocate for change and provide resources and tools to dismantle oppressive systems.

YWCA SHR is in the midst of a rapid transformation from a well-established direct service provider for women and families facing crisis to an organization working at the intersection of eliminating racism, empowering women and standing up for social justice, helping families and strengthening our community.

About the Position

Under general supervision of the Housing Manager, responsible for working collaboratively with the Shelter Case Managers, other YWCA SHR Staff and interns, local social service partners, and landlords. This position assists homeless clients impacted by domestic violence in overcoming barriers to housing, identifying affordable housing opportunities and developing a plan for long-term stability.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

The essential functions include, but are not limited to the following:

Advocacy

• Meet with homeless clients selected for YWCA’s Rapid Re-Housing program to complete intake, assess for housing barriers and develop a plan to locate housing and maintain stability
• Establish partnerships with landlords to locate affordable housing for clients, especially those with multiple barriers to obtaining permanent housing
• Connect clients to support services partners within the community to provide wraparound services
• Meet with clients to assist with; identifying affordable housing opportunities, completing housing applications, reviewing lease documents, addressing barriers to housing, and assisting with moving arrangements
• Act as a liaison and mediator between client and community partners (landlords, property managers, local social service partners, etc)

Compliance

• Complete housing inspections and ensure that housing meets HUD compliance standards
• Complete HUD required program documents and upload them into HMIS compatible database
• Maintaining familiarity with federal, state, regional, and local housing programs, policies, and regulations; analyzing and ensuring compliance with applicable requirements

Administration

• Maintains statistics, client case notes, and ECM to accurately report out on grant activities
• Provide updates at case management meetings (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) for clients who are housing searching or housed to ensure their long-term success by providing safety planning, crisis intervention, advocacy, information and referrals
• Attend meetings (housing department meetings, case management meetings, SVHC/CoC meetings) and scheduled in-service trainings as assigned
• Performs other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree in social work, psychology, or related human services field preferred.
• A minimum of one year of related experience with housing and/or homeless population required.

Skills and Competencies

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS (KNOWLEDGE,

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

)

• Experience working with persons with disabilities, mental health concerns, and chronic homelessness preferred.
• Demonstrate knowledge of interpersonal violence and a strong commitment to ending violence against women, men, and children.
• Knowledge of HUD Housing Quality Standards (HQS) Guidelines preferred.
• Knowledge of housing resources in Hampton Roads, Landlord/Tenant Laws and Fair Housing Regulations in Virginia.
• Comfortable with computers and familiar with spreadsheet and word processing programs.
• Core competencies expected: strong oral and…