Advocate

Description

Rosie’s Place was founded in 1974 as the first women’s shelter in the United States. Our mission is to provide a safe and nurturing environment to help poor and homeless women maintain their dignity, seek opportunity and find security in their lives.

Over the years, we have become much more than a shelter. We are a multi-service community center that not only provides meals and shelter but also creates answers for thousands of women a year through wide-ranging support, housing and education services. Rosie’s Place relies on the generous support of individuals, foundations and corporations and does not accept any city, state or federal funding.

Advocates provide key assistance to Rosie’s Place guests while supporting and validating their sense of self-worth and responsibility. Under the supervision of the Advocacy Management Team, Advocates provides one-to-one assistance, information, and referrals to appropriate resources, consistent with Rosie’s Place mission, philosophy, core values, and policies.

• Support guests by helping to meet their needs as individually identified by them. Encourage self-sufficiency, responsibility, and independence
• Provide assistance to guests to help meet housing, emergency shelter, transportation, food access and clothing needs. Work includes providing direct assistance and making referrals to partner organizations, community resources and government agencies.
• Provide information and referrals to guests for services offered on-site, by both Rosie’s Place programs and other allied partners
• Provide Advocacy services remotely via our call center, and in-person at our drop-in center
• Maintain an up-to-date understanding of community resources as well as current regulations and requirements for obtaining public benefits, housing and other services
• Assess and assist guests in prioritizing their needs and forming realistic action plans
• Maintain accurate guest records in Salesforce, a database to track guest support
• Ensure confidentiality when handling all aspects of guests’ information
• Maintain high level of knowledge about current guests
• Participate in weekly supervision, program meetings, and monthly staff meetings
• Intervene in guests’ crises and emergencies in a dignified and respectful manner
• Perform additional duties as assigned by the Director of Advocacy Services and Advocacy Management team

There are innumerable ways to learn, grow, and excel professionally. We know people gain skills through a variety of professional, personal, educational, and volunteer experiences. We respect this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. We want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work. This said, we are most likely to be interested in your candidacy if you can demonstrate the majority of the qualifications and experiences listed below:

• Bilingual abilities in Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, or Cape Verdean Creole in addition to English are a plus
• Strong commitment to social justice and the mission of Rosie’s Place
• 2 years of experience in counseling, case management, or advocacy preferred
• Experience with crisis intervention with people who have experienced trauma, homelessness, mental health challenges, and/or substance use disorders
• Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to exercise sound judgement and think quickly on your feet
• Strong interpersonal skills. Ability to work well and effectively communicate with other department employees.
• Strong customer service mindset with effective and diplomatic, yet supportive communication style
• Dependable, flexible and able to work effectively in a collaborative and busy department
• Proficient computer literacy, including the ability to quickly learn new systems and applications

We are a hands‑on team and seek employees who are passionate about our work and service to our community. The Advocate is expected to work onsite at Rosie’s Place during their work week and engage regularly with staff, guests, and volunteers. While this position is eligible for a hybrid work schedule,…