AYA Housing Mentor

Position Title: 

House Mentor

Reports To: 

Housing Manager

Compensation: 

Rent-free apartment

Position Summary

Description

The House Mentor role is a live-in, highly relational, high-level supportive position (10-15 hours/week). House Mentors will be supporting young people ages 18-24 who have experienced homelessness, housing instability, couch surfing,  or have recently aged out of foster care. Mentors live in a separate unit adjacent to 3-4 young people who will be in an apartment next door. 

What is a House Mentor? 

House Mentors seek to build relationships with youth 18-24  over a prolonged period of time (preferably a two year commitment).   AYA House Mentors provide consistent support, guidance, and tangible help to the mentee as they work towards stability. House Mentors assist young people in the transition to adulthood, including building life skills and navigating relationships. They expose youth to information and opportunities that can help them make constructive choices about their lives. Mentoring is about believing in the unlimited potential of each youth served. The mentor reminds the youth of the expectations they set for themselves, encourage them to set higher or more specific goals, and follow-up consistently to support and challenge youth in achieving their goals. Mentoring requires time, patience, and consistency.

The Program

AYA Youth Collective’s Supportive Housing program  is a place where youth can rest, recharge, heal, take action steps towards their goals and achieve milestones along the way. In each home, Mentors act as the first point of contact for youth. Community is built through weekly house dinners, shared experiences, and daily interactions.  AYA Youth Collective recognizes that having stable housing is only the start of long term stability. It’s through community that youth begin to rebuild their circles of support and achieve interdependence.

House Mentor Roles and Responsibilities

1. Intentionally plan and facilitate “House Dinners” offering youth living in the  home opportunities to build community, resolve conflict, learn about a variety of different life skills including but not limited to laundry, cleaning, cooking, personal hygiene,  financial literacy, health navigation, educational goals, relationships, and stress management.
2. Arrange weekly check-in with each youth and complete Engagement Forms. 
3. Communicate with the Housing team as needed. 
4. Co-create Community with and for youth living in the home: with a focus on youth voice, choice, and self-determination. Celebrating  and supporting youth, welcoming new mentees into their new home after a lease signing, celebrating birthdays, holidays, and other accomplishments/milestones. 
5. Responsible for general upkeep of youth and mentor unit: 
   1. Maintaining organization of common spaces
   2. Trash and Recycling 
   3. Monthly Health and Safety inspections
   4. Entering Youth Unit at least once a week
   5. Restocking of cleaning closet in youth unit
   6. Collaborate with Housing Team to turnover rooms in youth unit
   7. Help maintain a clean, comfortable, and safe environment for youth
6. Provide Housing Orientation to new tenants which includes an overview of house culture, communication, and  facilitating a conversation on shared roommate agreements and responsibilities. 
7. Serve as the primary point of contact for any emergencies, informing the Housing Manager in a timely manner. 
8. Knowledge of all housing policies ensuring policies are being followed by mentees
9. Establish healthy boundaries with each mentee
10. Organize one community event for youth each month. (i.e attending a local wellness class, visiting a museum, attending a local cultural event, coordinating with staff to arrange a social event at AYA, inviting positive influencers to house dinner (AYA staff, therapist, college advisor, financial advisor, etc.)
11. Attend scheduled House Mentor monthly meetings and annual AYA retreat (2-3 days, including overnight)

Outcomes

1. AYA home operates efficiently and safely, meeting the basic needs of each youth. 
2. House Mentors and Youth clearly understand values and expectations
3. House Mentors are properly trained to provide the highest quality of support for youth living in all AYA homes. 
4. House Mentors and staff will  use the following tools and principles to support youth: 
   1. Trauma Informed
   2. Harm Reduction
   3. Othering and Belonging
   4. Relationship Centered
   5. Interdependence vs. Independent
   6. Youth informed vs. Youth Led
   7. Casey Life Skills
   8. Holistic/ Embodied approach
   9. An understanding of principles within anti-oppression and social justice framework. 
5. Youth are achieving goals related to long term stability. 

Qualifications Experience

1. General Requirements

• Experience mentoring young adults
  
• Someone with the capacity in their daily life to make this role a priority
• Strong self awareness
• Interpersonal growth mindset
• Personal financial stability
• Proven ability to maintain healthy relationships
• Proven ability to manage emotional & mental wellness

1. Preferences

• Lived experience and/or an understanding of youth homelessness, trauma and/or mental health/substance use concerns and knowledge of de-escalation techniques
  
• Multilingual

Equal Opportunity Employment:

A.Y.A. Youth Collective is an equal opportunity employer who strongly desires to build a team that accurately represents the diversity of our target population. We embrace differences in race, color, nationality, religion/culture, gender identity/expression, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, military status, or ability.