Youth Outreach and Engagement Coordinator

Job Description

Job Description

Youth Outreach and Engagement Coordinator

Lighthouse MI is a growing non-profit, established in 2019 when Lighthouse of Oakland County and South Oakland Shelter joined forces to offer a stronger collective response to poverty in our Metro Detroit community. With over 80 years of combined experience, Lighthouse serves as a beacon of hope to our neighbors who need it most by offering assistance with emergency basic needs alongside housing programs and supportive services designed to support long‑term economic stability.

Lighthouse owns and operates Spero Housing Group, a subsidiary non‑profit dedicated specifically to developing and operating high quality affordable and supportive housing for persons of low and moderate income, as well as Hand Up, a community and crowdfunding platform serving 100+ homeless service agencies and their clients across the United States.

The Youth Outreach and Engagement Coordinator helps organize, lead, and grow efforts to connect with and support young people, ages 10‑24, who are experiencing homelessness or at‑risk of running away. As part of Lighthouse’s Runaway and Homeless Youth (RHY) team, this position helps develop and implement effective outreach and promotional strategies to identify and engage youth who may be in need of services, resources, and support.

Through outreach and engagement, this role works to help youth stay safe and connect to needed services, including facilitating homelessness prevention strategies wherever possible.

This position also helps create and implement a diverse array of youth empowerment and engagement opportunities to build community connections and promote youth leadership capacity. This includes coordinating a Youth Advisory Board, planning activities and events, and promoting community partnership building and awareness of resources for youth. This position will spend much of their time in the field and will have office space at Royal Oak or Pontiac locations.

This position is full time at 40 hours / week.

Provide youth with street‑ and event‑based services, such as basic needs items and emergency referrals, while building a trusting rapport with youth through Positive Youth Development, trauma‑informed, culturally‑competent, and harm reduction approaches.

Conduct mobile street outreach – working in pairs whenever possible – through various means to canvass areas where unaccompanied youth frequent, including recreation centers, libraries, transit centers, parks, malls, and other locations.

Create and maintain regular digital youth outreach strategies, including creating content for social media, podcasting, and other means to promote Lighthouse services for youth and young adults.

Work with department leadership to establish and grow community‑based youth outreach efforts through participation in various community events such as festivals, school fairs, resource‑sharing events, and tabling opportunities.

Provide crisis intervention, safety planning, and appropriate support to youth in emergency situations, including youth experiencing human trafficking, domestic violence situations, immediate shelter needs, and mental health crises.

Continuously evaluate outreach locations, strategies, and needs of youth for ongoing quality improvement to ensure provision of effective outreach interventions.

Create regular youth‑focused activities and events to promote Lighthouse’s brand and create awareness among young people experiencing or at‑risk of homelessness in the community.

Work in coordination with the RHY Case Managers to facilitate connection to needed services and youth empowerment opportunities, including short‑term counseling, employment / job readiness planning, educational planning, and life skills training.

Develop, organize, and coordinate a local Youth Advisory Board composed of young people with lived experience of homelessness to promote youth voice, representation, and leadership for informing community planning efforts and service delivery.

Lead Youth Advisory Board recruitment and engagement efforts,…