Advocate

Advocate

This Advocate position is responsible for overseeing the food bank experience for participants who reside in Lafayette, Louisville, Superior and Erie. The Advocate will manage systems related to intake in the Food Bank, support other Advocates working in the Food Bank, and create and maintain resources, referrals, and community outreach in the Food Bank. This position will also support other Advocate Team related needs. This Advocate must work the following Schedule: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday hours are 9:00am-5:30pm and Wednesday hours is 10am-6:30pm.

Essential Functions:

• Meet with families on a regular basis, in the Food Bank, to help them access food.
• At first, this position will focus on the Food Bank and Food Bank hours. Eventually, this position will help with other Advocate Team needs in the morning (when the Food Bank isn't open) such as helping with walk-ins at the front desk, calling participants back on the call list, and helping with some financial requests.
• Referrals to organizations to help determine eligibility for public benefits.
• Meet and connect families to the Food Bank and other agency programs and services.
• Complete thorough documentation of all work done with participants in Community Connect performance management software.
• Attend interagency and community meetings on a regular basis and as needed.
• Participate in clinical supervision monthly.
• Connect families with appropriate community resources and referrals.
• Help document and capture, in writing, Food Bank systems and ways to ensure service delivery.
• Communicate Food Bank updates in conjunction with other Food Bank Advocate to the Advocate Team and other Sister Carmen teams, as necessary.
• Work closely with various Boulder County Housing and Human Services programs.
• Screens and makes appropriate referrals to housing stabilization programs such as Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA), and Boulder County Housing and Human Services (BCHHS) Housing Stabilization Program (HSP).
• Collaborate with Nutrition and Healthy Living Manager, Food Bank Coordinator, Volunteer Manager, and Food Bank Volunteers to ensure participant needs are communicated and met.
• Utilize volunteers to help in the food bank with the intake process and services for participants.
• Organize services for individuals experiencing homelessness in the Food Bank.
• Conduct outreach to food bank participants connecting them to both community and SCCC resources, classes and trainings.
• Participate in ongoing professional development and skills, practice with Advocate team. Professional development and skills may include mandatory reporting, protective factors, and other trainings of the Advocates choosing related to our scope of work.
• Stays current with trends, patterns and issues to recommend changes and implement necessary changes to SCCC programs.
• May oversee or lead an Advocacy project or program.
• Conduct home visits, or meet with participants in the community, as needed per family situation. For non-office meetings, Advocates may get creative and conduct appointments via phone calls, Zoom, texts, or emails for participants who are homebound, hard of hearing, etc. There is a home visit protocol to reference when conducting home visits.
• For advocacy appointments, flexibility to meet with participants over the phone or in person-participant choice.
• Remain dedicated to regular continuing education opportunities.
• Adheres to and upholds safety workplace practices; demonstrates responsible use of SCCC Information Technology equipment and adheres to SCCC IT protocols.
• Attends at least 80% of All Staff and In Service meetings.

Minimum Job Requirements/Competencies:

• Bilingual Spanish/English
• A minimum of 2 years job related experience in the human services field, or in a relevant education setting, or has lived experiences regarding poverty, self-advocacy, etc.
• Knowledgeable about local community resources.
• Ability to plan, organize, and prioritize work while adapting to changing priorities.
• Flexible, proactive, adaptable and able to work in a fast-paced, changing environment.
• Flexible and adaptable to change including willingness to move, share or rearrange office spaces as the organization continues to grow.
• Must be able to work with a diverse workgroup and serve families with diverse economic, social, racial, linguistic and cultural backgrounds including but not limited to: unhoused, undocumented, refugees etc.
• Understanding of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity initiatives and strong passion to build understanding around how to create a more equitable organization and community for all stakeholders.
• Demonstrate commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and Learning Environment.
• Be open minded to change and learning
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build relationship with individuals who may not share the same value system or behavior norms.
• Ability to work with challenging participants and de-escalate difficult situations.
• Maintain a professional and confidential work environment.
• Ability to work independently and as a positive team player with cross-cultural literacy.
• Ability to be collaborative with partner and referring agencies and their staff.
• Complete 15-hour Strength Based service delivery training, as the training is available.
• Ability to have good self-care practices and work/life boundaries.
• Comfortability with technology. Strong computer skills and experience using MS Office, Outlook and ability to navigate multiple databases. Ability to return communications in a timely manner and meet deadlines in a fast-paced and changing environment.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience practicing in a strength-based, participant- centered modality.
• Training and/or experience in Motivational Interviewing.
• Familiarity with Substance Use and Mental Health/Illness issues.
• Ability to manage work-life balance
• Experience working with a Family Resource Center Model.
• Experience working at a Food Bank.
• Leadership ability –
• Bilingual and bicultural preferred.

Time and Place: 40 hours per week scheduled generally Monday through Friday. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday hours are 9:00am-5:30pm and Wednesday hours is 10am-6:30pm. Occasional evenings and weekends as needed. Work will be conducted in the office, community, remotely, through home visits and at other community agencies. Flexibility around service delivery will be essential, such as submitting check requests, contacting landlords and possibility of meeting after work hours to accommodate participant hours.

Work Environment:

• This job requires you to be at the office every day
• Pet friendly
• Supports parents by allowing children to be at work with parents, when appropriate.
• Flextime available
• Fun team environment!
• Supportive team environment and understanding of other's outside lives

Physical Requirements: Frequent sitting, Occasional moving, may need to remain in a stationary position in the Food Bank. May have to move equipment weighing up to 50 pounds in the Food Bank.

Benefits

Benefit eligibility is based on job type/status: Ø Dental and Vision Benefits Ø Health Insurance Ø Employee Assistance Program Ø Flexible Spending Account Ø Life Insurance Ø Paid Time Off Ø 11 Paid Holidays plus additional Floating Holidays Ø Retirement Plan Ø Professional development assistance

How to Apply

Position will remain open until filled To apply please send a resume and cover letter to