Peer Counselor

Founded in 2003, AMI Housing is a California-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to enhance the lives of people with mental illness through housing, employment, and supportive services. To house and support the most vulnerable residents of the Sierra region.

Peer Counselor positions work within the agency’s transitional and permanent supportive housing programs, providing supportive services to individuals residing within these programs. Peer Counselors work closely with the assigned Service Coordinator for each resident to ensure individuals work on goals and toward independent housing stability. Peer Counselors oversee the day-to-day housing needs in these programs, including teaching Activities of Daily living (e.g., household cleaning chores, shopping, money management) and completing room inspections to ensure the quality of living standards are met.

Peer Counselors utilize their own life experience and relationship skills working with multidisciplinary team members to engage, build rapport, and assist individuals in maintaining their living conditions and supporting service coordinators by helping with linkage to a wide range of services, particularly behavioral health services and supportive housing. Peer Counselors consult the teams to promote and reinforce a recovery culture where each member’s point of view and preferences are recognized, understood, respected, and integrated into services and self-help programming.

Peer Counselors may need to respond to critical situations with high-level engagement and de-escalation skills, which support a least restrictive environment for individuals experiencing an emergency related to a mental health/addiction challenge.

The Peer Counselor role is differentiated from the Peer Support Specialist in that the Peer Counselor works with a dedicated group of residents residing in transitional and permanent supportive housing, addressing housing needs to assist the resident with removing barriers to obtaining permanent independent housing.

Examples of essential duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:

SAMSHA defines the essential duties of members of the peer workforce as engaging individuals in collaborative and caring relationships, providing support, sharing lived experiences of recovery, personalize peer support services, supporting the individual's recovery planning, providing linkage to resources, services, and other support and provide information/education about skills related to health, wellness, and recovery.

Duties vary depending on the assignment:

• Initiates contact with residents and continues to engage them throughout the recovery process and monitor their overall well-being.
• Mentors teach residents how to perform household tasks, manage money, etc., to build desired skills and strategies for independent living.
• Assisted with organizing, facilitating, and guiding weekly house meetings and facilitated twice-monthly groups focused on life skills and recovery.
• Support conflict resolution when residents are experiencing interpersonal challenges in the housing
• Assist residents in weekly meal planning and grocery shopping.
• Conduct trips to local food banks twice per month, including pick up at the food bank, sorting of food items, and delivery to the homes.
• Deliver monthly supplies to the homes to ensure each house has needed supplies and track items required at each home, such as new coffee pots, silverware, glassware, etc.
• Conduct cleaning inspections weekly to ensure the house is clean and sanitary and residents complete assigned chores. When necessary, assist residents in proper cleaning methods.
• Conduct twice monthly checks for bed bug covers. Ensure…