Housing Assistant

Community Family Advocates • Pittsburgh, PA

7d • Onsite

About The Position

Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) is seeking a part-time staff person to help people apply for and secure the vital documents they need for housing. This person will then complete the work of submitting, uploading, and tracking the documents; communicate with staff and clients about the status of documents and follow-up with them to gather the required information. They also will provide insights into how to make the processes work most efficiently so people can enter housing as quickly as possible. The Housing Assistant will work at one or more of the emergency shelters in Allegheny County (with the primary location in downtown Pittsburgh)--as well as at the Human Services Building in downtown Pittsburgh. Their work will require them to interact with staff at those locations and at the state and federal offices where they will walk to deliver and pick up documents.

Requirements

• High School degree or equivalency
• Ability to demonstrate proficiency at all of these tasks: Merging PDFs, Scanning documents, Uploading files, Using Sharepoint or equivalent to store files, Writing emails that convey information correctly and clearly, Using Excel or equivalent
• Two years of office work experience

Nice To Haves

• Experience in directly helping individuals apply for their records or submitting complex documents (e.g., completing COMPASS applications, doing their tax filings)
• Administrative experience
• Mature understanding of why people may be homeless, respectful of them, including by listening well.
• Sense of urgency in their work.
• Highly-organized, resourceful, and understands processes.
• Very good at using the Sharepoint, Teams, Microsoft Forms applications.
• Comfortable communicating with clients about the status of their documents in a warm and respectful manner.
• Careful in their work.

Responsibilities

• Helps to staff the “document day” at one or more emergency shelter. On these days, they will work to assist clients in applying for replacement Social Security cards, Birth Certificates, and PA identification and Drivers’ licenses.
• Completes all of the work required to submit the applications, including preparing letters for signature, assembling packages of information, preparing envelopes, scanning and uploading copies, and using a tracking sheet.
• Communicates updates on the status of each document to clients, shelter staff and the program leader.
• Helps clients solve problems related to their documents.
• Raises issues when they are slowing down the time for a client to get their documents; and proposes solutions.
• Acts independently in the best interest of the project and the clients, when necessary.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: High school or GED