Education and Life Skills Specialist

SAN ANTONIO METROPOLITAN MINISTRY Inc•San Antonio, TX

22d

About The Position

The Education and Life Skills (ELS) Specialist will assist individuals experiencing homelessness as they work toward increased economic and housing stability. The role is to directly facilitate a high school completion curriculum at SAMMinistries’ Young Adult Stability and Support (YASS) Center, and to provide individual and group instruction and support to YASS Center clients to improve communication and life skills. The selected candidater will also provide education and employment-focused case management assistance to YASS Center participants. The ELS Specialist is responsible for documenting work, tracking and entering client contacts and progress, and for maintaining productive, professional communication with all SAMMinistries programs and departments.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in a Human Services field, Education or closely related disciplines.
Must have 2 years’ experience with providing education and/or direct case management assistance to adults with disadvantaged and marginalizing backgrounds that may include poverty, criminal justice system involvement, behavioral health challenges, and/or family violence.
The ELS Specialist must possess and demonstrate excellent written and verbal communication skills.
The ELS Specialist must be able to communicate accurately and professionally with clients, staff, and community members.
Must be able to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific and technical journals, grant and financial reports, legal documents and/or governmental regulations.
Must also be able to respond to common inquiries and complaints from clients, regulatory agencies, partners, and other others in the community in a professional manner.
Must be able to clearly and effectively present information to colleagues, leadership staff, and community members.
Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists; ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.
Ability to operate a computer, copier, fax machine, and a telephone with intercom.
Ability to work in Microsoft Windows XP and Office Suite applications; a willingness to learn new programs and applications is essential; ability to follow instructions, think conceptually, set priorities and interface effectively with staff; ability to coordinate work requirements and to handle several projects simultaneously; ability to work conscientiously without supervision; must have excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills and public speaking ability; ability to maintain strict confidentiality and interact well with all constituencies; ability to work independently while also being flexi flexible in providing assistance to the "team" as needed.
Physical demands inherent in this position include but are not limited to sitting for long periods of time, use of computer equipment, operation of a motor vehicle, walking, climbing stairs, bending, stretching and lifting up to 20 lbs.

Nice To Haves

Prior experience directly providing career readiness training, interview preparation, and resume writing is a plus.
Bilingual (English/Spanish) ability is not required but highly preferred.

Responsibilities

Facilitate high school completion curriculum
Implement individualized training plans tailored to the specific needs of each client.
Facilitate social skills training to enhance interpersonal communication and relationship-building abilities.
Monitor client progress and adjust training methods as needed to ensure progress and goal achievement.
Maintain accurate documentation of client progress, incidents, and relevant observations.
Collaborate with clients, family members, staff, and other professionals to assist clients in developing a positive support network.
Support clients’ development of practical life skills critical to success in obtaining and maintaining stable and safe housing
Assisting with preparation of resumes and cover letters aligned with identified career objectives.
Support program participants’ ability to submit accurate, high quality job applications.
Conduct mock interviews to build participants’ skills and confidence.
Build and manage relationships with external organizations or community partners
Acting as a liaison to connect clients/community members with resources.
Coordinating client-centered events.
Managing professional and timely communications.
Tracking partnership success to support organizational goals including quality service delivery, program growth, and positive community engagement.
Successfully track and analyze expenses and program metrics related to program deliverables.
Develop goals, priorities and timelines to ensure efficiency and completion of assigned tasks.
Communicate and coordinate priorities, progress, workload, and challenges to supervisor on a regular basis.
Communicate with supervisor and other leadership staff when urgent situations arise; assist with addressing these in accordance with leadership guidance and organization policies.
Share information contributing to positive growth in programmatic practice and organization fundraising efforts.
Attend staff meetings and participate in organization‐wide planning activities.
Professionally handle other tasks as assigned.
Maintain current knowledge of best practices and services applicable to population served by this program.
Undertake all activities with the highest ethical standards.