Wellness Counselor and Health Educator

Title: Wellness Counselor and Health Educator, Wellness Services

Reports To: Program Manager, Wellness Services

Directly Supervises: None

Summary of Job:

The Wellness Center at Homeless Prenatal Program is a dynamic and innovative cluster of programs aimed at improving health and family stability for pregnant women, new parents and children. Through community partnerships and rich onsite services, HPP's Wellness Center provides holistic and comprehensive services that support and promote parenting and child development. As a Health Educator, this position will co-facilitate perinatal education classes and support groups designed to focus on the health and well-being of our families.

The Wellness Counseling Program seeks to provide consistent outreach and follow up to over 350 pregnant individuals annually. Pregnant individuals come to HPP seeking a range of services and the wellness counselor provides a main point of contact to individuals as they navigate their pregnancy and early post-partum. Monthly follow ups during pregnancy and postpartum provides individuals with a basic foundation of support and also provides an opportunity for wellness counselors to identify increased needs or risks and then provide linkage to additional services. HPP’s goal is that all pregnant families seeking services at HPP are linked to prenatal care, experience a healthy birth, and have access to family planning options

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Wellness Counseling:

• Complete monthly calls in a timely manner with prenatal and postpartum families on assigned caseload. Case load is determined based on the number of assigned groups.
• Complete pregnancy and postpartum related data in a timely manner, with accuracy and completeness for assigned clients.
• Conduct regular informal risk assessments and referrals to appropriate services for each client on assigned caseload.
• Link clients with internal and external partner programs in a timely manner.
• Support clients on-site, and on a drop-in basis as needed.
• Establishes goals and tasks with all clients on caseload and updates these on a monthly basis.
• Complete Birth Plans and Postpartum plans with each client who is in need of one.

Health Education:

In this position, Health Educator co-facilitates English-language groups as assigned. Groups may vary by cycle and may include Prenatal Education Group, Knowing your Baby/Infant Massage, Infant Feeding Support Group, Postpartum Group, Mothers and Babies Group, Self-care and Attachment Vitamins in collaboration with the Mental Health Team, etc.

• Prepares material for weekly classes.
• Prepares and organizes class outlines.
• Teaches approximately 3 to 4 classes weekly.
• Sets up a classroom or Zoom space.
• Cleans and organizes the room following class.
• Plans for and assists in hosting baby showers four times a year.
• Recruits a new group of clients each quarter for the new cycle.
• Makes reminder texts weekly to class participants.
• Meets with co-facilitator weekly to plan class agenda.
• Debriefs with co-facilitator weekly after facilitation of group.
• Facilitates Pre and Post PFS surveys for required groups.
• Enters attendance data in a timely manner.
• Coordinates with external partners to include guest speakers in groups.
• Completes Health Education Knowledge Tree activity weekly in group and reflection survey after group.
• Makes appropriate referrals to other HPP and external programs.
• Expected to participate in ongoing continuing education in perinatal topics including lactation support/education, doula support, family planning, etc.

General Wellness Team member responsibilities:

• Collaborate with the Wellness team to ensure effective and timely service delivery for clients.
• Willingness to share responsibilities over projects and tasks with team members in a productive manner.
• Attend staff training, team meetings and individual supervision meetings as scheduled.
• Participate in Friday Distribution rotation along with the team.
• Willingness to participate in partner community events such as SF Pregnancy and Family Village, willingness to be in rotation with the team to attend community events occasionally on Saturdays
• Provide drop-in services including resources and referral to clients as needed.

Administrative:

• All Client notes, data, and referrals, are required to be input into the Salesforce database by the end of the following business day after client contact.
• Keep accurate, up-to-date, confidential documentation of client contact and activity.
• Respond to emails and voicemails in a timely manner.
• Keep Google and Salesforce calendars up to date.

Core Competencies:

All HPP Staff are expected to meet the expectations of our Core Competencies:

• Accountability and Reliability: Shows up for the team, the clients, and the organization; takes responsibility for actions, and follows through on tasks and projects.
• Collaboration: Helps colleagues as needed, views responsibilities as shared; Actively participates in agency-wide initiatives/ efforts.
• Communication: Uses effective written and oral communication with coworkers and community served; understands emotions of self and others, and responds with empathy.
• Continuous Learning: Demonstrates curiosity and eagerness to learn and develop professionally.
• Equity Mindset: Understands and is committed to goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion and fostering an inclusive environment; consistently centers equity in the organization’s work both internally and externally.
• Proficiency in area of focus: Has skills and knowledge in role and area of focus.

Qualifications:

• Completion of CHW Program or equivalent experience highly desired.
• Experience working within and among diverse clients and team members .
• Childbirth education, infant development, and breastfeeding education experience are highly desired.
• Experience providing postpartum and breastfeeding support is preferred.
• Knowledge of resources in San Francisco preferred.
• Able to show flexibility and respond to the needs of families.
• Compassionate, firm and consistent, in working with targeted populations.
• Able to communicate effectively in writing and verbally, in person and over the phone.
• Experience with, and passion for, pregnancy and newborn care preferred.
• Basic computer skills and ability to learn quickly.
• Able to work in a multicultural environment.
• Appropriate professional and personal boundaries and high integrity.
• Demonstrated ability to be on time and at work when scheduled.
• Understanding of, and commitment to, social justice, anti-racism, and HPP’s mission and organizational values.
• Understanding of how race, ethnicity, culture, language, poverty, sexual and gender identity, age, education, housing insecurity, and systemic oppressions impact a person’s mental health.

HPP recognizes the value of having a staff that brings a wide range of perspectives to this work based on language, ethnicity, race, gender, socio-economic background, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and disability. We are committed to maintaining a diverse, multicultural working environment and particularly encourage applications from candidates with lived experience in the communities we seek to serve.

Physical Requirements: This position requires the ability to work under stress and handle multiple project deadlines. The position may require moderate lifting. This position requires an annual tuberculosis test.

Work Environment: Fast-paced, multicultural, collaborative work environment requires flexibility to change and ability to adjust to coverage needs.

Hours: Full time - 39 hours/week.

Salary: $64,583 excellent benefits package

FLSA Status: Non-exempt

About HPP

Founded in 1989, the Homeless Prenatal Program (HPP) is a nationally recognized family resource center in San Francisco that empowers homeless and low-income families, particularly mothers motivated by pregnancy and parenthood, to find within themselves the strength and confidence they need to transform their lives.

HPP helps families become healthy, stable and self-sufficient. We focus on the social determinants of health, supporting both parents and children in order to strengthen the whole family. With services ranging from emergency support to intensive case management, the agency partners with parents to address family needs during the critical years from pregnancy through kindergarten.

The first agency in San Francisco to hire former clients as staff, HPP’s evolution has been guided by the community it serves. More than half of HPP’s immensely talented staff of 125 come from the community and/or are graduates of the agency’s Community Health Worker Apprenticeship Program, which trains individuals for careers in the nonprofit sector.

Over the years, HPP has received considerable recognition for its service to the community. In 2022, we were named “Nonprofit of the Year” by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and our work has been highlighted by The New York Times, CNN, KQED, The Huffington Post, People and The San Francisco Chronicle. Additionally, HPP receives consistently high ratings by leading philanthropic evaluators such as Guidestar and Charity Navigator.

The Homeless Prenatal Program is an Equal Opportunity Employer and provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $64,583.00 per year

Benefits:

• 403(b) matching
• Dental insurance
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Professional development assistance
• Retirement plan
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Day shift
• Monday to Friday
• Weekends as needed

Work Location: Hybrid remote in San Francisco, CA 94110

Salary : $64,583