Psychosocial Support Worker – Part Time
Kitchener, ON- St. Mark’s Place
Salary: $21.25-$25.55
Closing Date for Applications: 2nd, 2025
Position Description: As the Psychosocial Support Worker, you will come alongside tenants who have experience with mental health and/or substance use to optimize housing stability. Offering support services that help individuals to flourish within their community. Using a service plan, you will assist tenants to learn skill sets needed for independent living within community. Engage in a collaborative assessment process of tenant’s progress, helping them achieve their social inclusion and community development goals, focusing on purpose-filled planning and intervene in crisis situations. As part of an interdisciplinary team, you will also enhance community engagement, tenant-led initiatives, and develop a safe environment for our tenants to thrive. This position will require a high level of resilience and willingness to work in close proximity to challenging situations.
What matters to you? Being in a work culture that operates out of their core values of DIGNITY, LOVE and HOPE- embracing diversity, promoting equality and inclusion. A place that sees you as a LEADER contributing your individuality to champion the vision of creating communities that TRANSFORM lives.
About Indwell: Founded in 1974, our Christian charity continues to thrive and grow exponentially as we serve people impacted by poverty and homelessness through our vision of HOPE and HOMES for All. We are the fastest growing developer in Ontario creating affordable high quality efficient housing communities coupled with supportive programs to over 1200 tenants to meet their needs of health, wellness, and belonging. To learn more, go to: indwell.ca/our-model
What our Tenants say:
"The welcoming you get when you walk through the doors, from tenants to staff. They're always checking on you." "Living at Indwell has been teaching me to do things and taught me how to get along with better people, be better people and trust people and let people do and say what they want." "An affordable rent. It’s huge, it’s huge. It means I can eat properly. And that affects my physical and mental health, so that is huge."
Hours of Work: Part-time hours, 8-16 hours per week, working mostly evenings and weekends, including some public holidays.
WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING:
Support, Direction and Commitment to Interdisciplinary Team
- Work as part of an interdisciplinary team to provide direct and indirect support to residents, encouraging housing stability. These supports will include: medication administration, apartment checks, implementation of pest management protocols, community events, meal program, and other supports as necessary.
- Attend trainings on recovery; psychiatric rehabilitation, trauma, supported employment practices, substance use and cultural competency. Keep apprised of new research and developments in these areas through journals, web sites and literature to transfer knowledge to the team and tenants in the most effective manner available.
- Assist tenants in gaining access to needed psychiatric, medical, social, residential, financial, and other services appropriate for the individual. Actively engage tenants in services including visits, appointments, programming, and activities within the community.
- Connect tenants to community resources and peer supports to promote community integration and inclusion. Provide education on available treatment or support models available in the community, completing referrals when needed and preparing individuals for such connections.
- Ensure all required documentation is completed in a timely, comprehensive, and legible manner and that health records are protected.
- Consult and collaborate with all team members on a regular basis. The goal of the Psychosocial Support Worker role is to holistically support a tenant within an interdisciplinary team. Therefore, team approaches should always be considered.
- Complete required assessment tools according to appropriate timelines.
- Coordinate, lead, and/or contribute to service planning for tenants.
- Take responsibility for a primary case load (either within a team-model or individual case-manager model) under the supervision of the Housing Support Team Lead and/or Program Supervisor
- Complete required documentation in a thorough and timely manner with a focus on maintaining and protecting tenant health records.
- Ensure effective integration of Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care residents within the greater supportive housing program.
- Liaise with Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care on resident wellness on routine basis.
- Assist tenants in developing and practicing the skills defined in their service plans in consultation with tenant and interdisciplinary team. This may include accompanying tenants to appointments, leisure activities or other activities of interest including religious, educational, or vocational opportunities to provide support and encouragement.
- Providing support with identifying early warning signs of mental health decline, developing coping, crisis, and safety plans and developing and facilitating psychoeducational, self-help groups through a biopsychosocial and psychosocial rehabilitation lens: facilitating tenants’ learning of coping skills to help handle stressful situations / environments and developing resources that reduce future stressors.
- Championing the importance of skill development as part of an interdisciplinary team. This involves coming alongside the tenant in their goals; coaching independent living skills, coaching through appointment coordination, maximizing abilities to promote community independence, encourage tenants in maintaining good personal hygiene, self-confidence, and work with their social inclusion goals.
- Strive to help reduce bias and stigma, while fostering social inclusion within program communities through program development and implementation.
- Assist tenants to build relationships with external partners and supports. Facilitate referrals as needed to connect tenants to clubs, employment, vocation programs, and more. Focused on Informal partnerships and interest groups, the role will include supporting the tenant through participation, coordination, or other levels of support to assist with social inclusion in the external community. Coaching tenants to independently participate in their chosen communities.
- Support will also address relationships with family, friends, neighbours, and co-workers. Examples of this could include conflict resolution education and coaching around how to be a good neighbour.
- Participate in quality improvement and data gathering as assigned. Consult on effective service plan and assessment tool development when necessary.
- Monitor, review and update the tenants support plans on a scheduled basis and revise the plan, as necessary, ensuring flexibility to meet the tenants’ needs.
- Foster tenant-led initiatives within the program to encourage inclusion and purpose for tenants and the Indwell community.
- Educate tenants on conflict resolution techniques that will develop skills for neighbour conflicts and further social inclusion within the Indwell program and larger community. Working with tenants to improve the capacity of the community so that it becomes “physically, mentally healthier and a better-prepared community.”
- Develop initiatives, programming, and support mechanisms to promote the value of safety within a community for tenants and for staff.
- Post Secondary education in related field or equivalent; lived experience
- Experience working within a case management framework with individuals with serious mental illness, substance use, or other special needs
- A warm, sensitive, and caring approach
- Ability to maintain good interpersonal relationships and have a genuine interest in supporting people living with mental illness
- Work independently, have strong problem-solving skills, be flexible, organized, responsible, and take initiative
- A valid “G” class driver’s license with own vehicle
- Vacation: 4% with 2% for HEAL time (sick and personal appointments) accumulated on each pay period
- Employee Assistance Program- primary care and professional consulting services
- New Staff Orientation Days
- Professional and Personal Development- annual Leadership Conference (themed with guest speaker) + Spiritual Ranch Retreat (reflection and recharge with various outdoor activities). Clifton Strengths Finder Assessment facilitated by People Developer for mentoring opportunities, Lunch and Learn Webinars, Indigenous Cultural Competency and 2SLGBTQ Awareness. Non-Violent Crisis Intervention (NVCI), First Aid/CPR/Naloxone, Therapeutic Relationships and Applied Suicide Intervention (ASIST)
- Social Events: Indwell’s Hope and Homes Banquet yearly to celebrate the important work we do + team gatherings
Inspired to JOIN OUR TEAM, we invite you…
To APPLY: Please forward your cover letter and resume to our website: www.indwell.ca/careers. We thank all for your interest; however, only those applicants that are being considered will be notified.
Personal information submitted will be used only for employment opportunities within Indwell in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act.
Accommodation will be provided to applicants who make their needs known in advance for the duration of the hiring process as required under Indwell’s Employment policy.