Housing Access Worker

Choices for Youth Inc. (CFY) is a professional service, youth-focused, non-profit, charitable organization that creates spaces and conversations, and operates programs and social enterprises to help vulnerable youth secure stable housing, employment, and education while improving health and family stability. With a focus on prevention, intervention, and support, we help youth and young families break cycles of poverty and homelessness and transition to healthy, stable, and independent lives. We are currently hiring a full-time Housing Access Worker via a partnership between CFY and End Homelessness St. John’s (EHSJ). This is a contractual position until March 31, 2026, with the possibility of extension.

The Housing Access Worker (HAW) will work in collaboration with the Manager of Housing Supports and the End Homelessness St. John’s team to provide direct, rapid, and individualized supports to deliver meaningful and relevant services for housing to youth and young people who are identified by the EHSJ Coordinated Access to Homes program. The HAW will work in partnership with CFY staff, community-based organizations, and government program staff to provide support with location, accessing, and securing housing for individuals on their caseload. The HAW will meet with other housing professionals to ensure that their clients are supported throughout their housing journey and will be available to support their clients to quickly access and enter housing from homelessness or housing instability. They will be responsible to achieve targets and metrics as defined by both CFY and EHSJ program requirements.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Actively work to identify barriers young people face and to support young people to build the skills required to successfully obtain housing

• Assertively and actively engage with all young people on caseload and work with them to build a strong rapport, and relationship with them while on caseload

• Engage with other members of the CFY and EHSJ team as required for caseload transfer, assignment, and discharge planning

• Crisis intervention and prevention work including identifying potential crisis and implementing prevention plans, responding to crisis as they arise (mental health, physical and non-violent crisis intervention) and reporting all crisis to the Manager of Housing Supports and other applicable stakeholders

• Advocate on behalf of young people on caseload to all necessary stakeholders, including other community groups, while maintain collaborative working relationships

• Assist young people to complete referrals and access relevant supports

• Promote harm reduction techniques with young people on caseload

• Participate in meetings and other activities as identified by CFY and EHSJ as required

• Identify new trends, barriers to success, and other metrics from caseload and community, and use insight for both advocacy to stakeholders and to better prepare program

• Work closely with staff from EHSJ to ensure strong communication and teamwork

• Maintain accurate and timely records of all client interactions and securely store them in relevant programs and methods

• Ensure all client interaction data is submitted on time to EHSJ for all reporting requirements

• Participate in all prescribed training and professional development activities as identified by CFY and EHSJ

• Other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• University or other post-secondary degree or diploma (or equivalent) in the social services field, and registration with a professional college (if applicable)

• Minimum of three years’ work in a social service field

• A focus on housing, or homelessness, is considered an asset

• Three years’ experience working in a supportive housing direct delivery service setting with young people experiencing the impacts of poverty, homelessness, violence, trauma, mental health, addictions, or concurrent disorders

• Extensive knowledge of the non-profit sector in our community, and homelessness issues

• Comfortability working one on one with clients in the home, which can include experience with pest control, animal behavior/control, and safety sense

• Current Standard First Aid/CPR, and ASIST training

• Superb communication, documentation, and engagement skills are essential for this role

• Active driver’s license and access to a vehicle

• Valid Criminal Record and Vulnerable Sector Check

WORK HOURS

This position will work 37.5 hours per week and flexibility in work hours will be required to accommodate youth and program needs, and to accommodate higher work volumes and organizational requirements.

COMPENSATION

The salary for this position is $50,958.18 - $56,620.20 annually. Choices for Youth offers a competitive compensation package, including a health and dental program, employer-matched RRSP, and four weeks’ vacation to qualifying employees.

Reference ID: HAW-0825

Deadline to Apply: August 18, 2025

HOW TO APPLY

Choices for Youth appreciates all applications; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Please submit your cover letter and resume, explaining how you meet the criteria to the recipients below, using HAW-0825 in the subject line.

Choices for Youth (CFY) strives towards a culture of inclusion and empowerment, one where there’s a sense of belonging and safety while prioritizing diversity across the organization, including in its Board of Directors composition, employment practices, staff, policies, programming, and services. CFY values lived and living experience and invites everyone interested to apply for available opportunities. CFY actively seeks applications from Indigenous Peoples; members of Black, racialized, and other equity-seeking and/or religious, cultural, and other communities; members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community; people with disabilities; and people from a variety of social and economic backgrounds. Should you require support or accommodation(s) to better enable your ability to participate in the employment or recruitment process, please let us know at any point. This information will be kept confidential.

To view all current job postings, please visit http://www.choicesforyouth.ca/join-cfy.