Housing Navigation Liaison

About Activate Care :

Activate Care is a mission-driven leader in proactive social risk management solutions. We help communities across America address social drivers of health (SDOH) and create better whole-person care by leveraging our experience in designing and implementing innovative care models enabled by our cloud-based care management platform.

Activate Care has partnered with Commonwealth Care Alliance & Commonwealth of Massachusetts to provide supportive temporary emergency shelter to families under the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities’ Emergency Assistance program.  To assist a rapidly growing number of unhoused families, including thousands of families migrating from Haiti due to natural disasters and civil unrest.

Role Overview :

The Housing Navigation Liason serves as the housing expert at the shelter,  for the family and emergency shelter program. This role will be responsible for finding appropriate housing and or,  apartment options for clients' long-term housing needs, supporting the application process, and securing funding support (eg HomeBASE) to ensure rapid, external re-housing of families.

This position requires regular on-site presence at the designated housing hub and their assigned shelter location within Massachusetts, with some flexibility to shift to new sites or cover multiple sites based on business needs. This position will require some travel using their personal vehicle to travel to other shelter locations during designated working hours for adequate shelter and family service support.

Responsibilities :

• Demonstrate integrity and empathy by working with passion, commitment and honesty in the best interest of colleagues and members in a collaborative manner.
• Partner with shelter staff to assess and document family housing needs upon case transfer, considering factors such as family size, desired geographic location, and public transit needs.
• Identify housing and apartment options for shelter residents
• Build and maintain partnerships with landlords and community-based organizations
• Submit HomeBASE applications and request for Strategic Rehousing Initiative (SRI) funding support
• Assist with additional applications such as CHAMP, Section 8, and other housing opportunities.
• Develop and deliver training for staff and families on housing navigation resources and approaches (eg, what to expect in the housing search process; how to communicate with landlords, how HomeBASE works.)
• Serve as an Expert consultant on family cases, partnering with Site Managers, Case Managers, and families to ensure successful rehousing.
• Maintain a clear understanding of programmatic data capture requirements and on-site operations related to housing navigation.
• Proactively work with sites to ensure compliance with program requirements
• Capture and Input data into the Commonwealth’s online ETO portal timely, and accurately.
• Other duties as assigned

Requirements

Qualifications & Skills :

• External Applicants considered for the position must meet one of the following educational & work experience criteria :
• Bachelors Degree
• Associate degree with two (2) or more years of relevant work experience
• Internal Applicants considered will require a recommendation from an AC & CCA Site Manager
• Valid Massachusetts Drivers License and consistent, reliable transportation with the ability to travel throughout Massachusetts during working hours is required
• 2 years of experience providing intensive housing placement services preferred
• Previous experience working within Emergency & Family Shelters, social services or related environments supporting people with housing is preferred
• Experience working with individuals who have recently immigrated to the US, particularly from Haiti is preferred
• Must be able to work collaboratively and create an atmosphere of trust and respect within project teams and with external partners
• Demonstrated ability to develop and deliver effective training
• Strong in identifying problems and opportunities for improvement with plans for resolution.
• Must be highly organized and self-directed with a proven ability to work with supervision on projects of a diverse nature

Diversity & Inclusion :

At Activate Care, we are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation, and related medical conditions), national origin, age, physical and mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, military, and veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Activate Care believes that diversity and inclusion among our teammates is critical to our success as a company, and we seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool.

The Company will not sponsor applicants for work visas at this time.