Peer Specialist- Homeless Services
About The Position
S:US is seeking a Peer Specialist for its men's shelter in Brooklyn, located at Ralph Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11233. The Peer Specialist helps participants engage with teams and services, builds meaningful relationships with individuals and families, and uses lived experience to support recovery, resilience, advocacy, and connection to community resources. The role includes collaborating with participants on personal wellness tools, supporting self-awareness and life skills, promoting a recovery-oriented and youth-friendly team culture, and maintaining frequent communication and required participant-visit notes.
Requirements
- Minimum of a high school diploma or equivalent (GED).
- One year of work experience in a shelter or related setting, preferably using the recovery model.
- Lived experience with the mental health system and willingness to share personal experience appropriately and respectfully.
- Ability to use critical thinking, problem-solving, and de-escalation skills to help create and maintain an environment that promotes recovery.
Nice To Haves
- Peer Certification.
- Respect for and a high level of comfort around people experiencing psychiatric crisis.
- Exceptional written and oral communication skills, including empathic listening and responding.
- Bilingual English/Spanish.
Responsibilities
- Help facilitate participant and family engagement by building connections, conducting outreach to promote awareness of S:US services, encouraging help-seeking, and sometimes bridging communication between team members and participants who are ambivalent about treatment.
- Develop authentic relationships with individuals and families through empathy, sharing experiences, listening, and collaboration.
- Understand, share, and discuss multiple frameworks for understanding life experiences, including psychosis, and make space for participants’ personal stories of recovery and resilience.
- Advocate with and for program participants in the community and on the team.
- Collaborate with participants to clarify their personal visions and develop wellness tools.
- Support participants, alongside other team members, in strengthening self-awareness, building life skills, and connecting with outside resources and community.
- Promote a positive team culture by advocating for clients, encouraging a youth-friendly approach, and promoting recovery-oriented language and an understanding of human potential and diversity.
- Maintain open and frequent communication with the team, report safety and other concerns, and keep notes on participant visits as required by the provider agency.
- Where encouraged, collaborate with participants on reporting.
Benefits
- Health and wellness resources.
- Generous paid time off.
- Professional development.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Education Level
High school or GED
