Community Health Navigator

Organization Description

Founded in 1988, the Lavender Youth Recreation & Information Center (LYRIC) has a mission to build community and inspire positive social change through support and services for LGBTQ2IA+ youth, their families, and allies of all races, classes, genders, and abilities. The organization offers 5 branches of programming for youth including in-school Q groups, internships, mentorship, housing navigation, health care and mental health referral, and more. We strive to root our work in the following organizational principles:

• Learning: We bring curiosity, creativity, and fun to our work.
• Sustainable Impact: We commit to the long-term transformation of lives and institutions.
• Leadership: We foster leadership to support a progressive movement that spans generations.
• Allyship: We believe that everyone has a role in creating safe and thriving communities.
• Social Justice: We build upon a proud history of community self-determination by challenging institutionalized invisibility & inequity.

Focus Areas

LYRIC is a growing organization and we are looking for a program staff member to join our Health and Wellness Department.  The Community Health Navigator in this role will be responsible for supporting and engaging our TAY aged LGBTQQ+ youth in accessing health care,  harm reduction education,  HIV/STI prevention service,  and Prep navigation 

through 1:1 case management, as well as the development and execution of community outreach and engagement events. 

 LGBTQQ health, case management, and facilitation experience strongly preferred. 

Responsibilities

1.   Develop, implement, and evaluate program activities that are youth-centered, informed by research/ best practices, and culturally relevant to LGBTQQ youth.
2.   Facilitate project-based leadership programs in school-/community-based settings and supervise groups of youth, including paid interns and fellows.
3. Conduct program orientations, intakes, and assessments utilizing multiple data systems.
4. Facilitate case management meetings with program staff and participate in clinical supervision.
5. Develop strength-based, social justice-centered individualized service plans in collaboration with youth and staff.
6. Ensure successful transition of youth exiting case management services to community or other resources.
7. Maintain records of daily contacts and activities with youth as well as related case collateral.
8.   Maintain records of daily contacts and activities with youth.
9.   Assist in compilation of information necessary for grant/contract reporting as well as program evaluation.
10.   Foster regular communication with the Program Manager/Director and program staff to ensure up-to-date information sharing regarding individual participants and issues impacting our youth community.
11.   Identify youth with case management needs and provide crisis intervention/conflict de-escalation as needed.
12. Coordinate community building/harm reduction and LGBTQQ inclusion training in partnership with youth facilitators.
13. Foster regular communication with supervisor and other program staff to ensure up-to-date information sharing regarding individual participants and issues impacting our youth community.
14.   Build and maintain relationships with community-based partner organizations, school districts, youth serving agencies, and community resources.
15.   Develop workshops and outreach strategies and recruit participants for leadership programs.
16.   Attend staff meetings as well as other organizational retreats and gatherings.
17.   Support organization-wide grassroots fundraising campaigns.
18.   Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Knowledge

1. Understanding of positive youth development framework, youth-adult partnership frameworks and knowledge of LGBTQQ youth issues.
2. Understanding of social justice, restorative justice, and systems change.
3. Understanding of case management model best practices.
4. Knowledge of San Francisco and Bay Area resources, especially for LGBTQQ youth, youth of color and their families.
5. Broad and deep knowledge of LGBTQQ community and issues impacting LGBTQQ youth.
6. Fluency in Cantonese, Mandarin, or Spanish, highly desirable.

Experience

1. 2 years minimum of experience working in HIV/STI prevention or care, medical care systems, PrEP Navigation/education, diverse populations, and/or underserved communities.\
2. Outreach engagement and community education experience.
3. Successful strategies in reaching hard to reach populations.
4. Excellent working knowledge of the Bay Area community and social and health service agencies is preferred.
5. Experience with the LGBTQ, Black, African American, Latinx/e and low income populations.
6. Ability to work independently as well as in a team environment. 
7. At least two years of experience coordinating youth services within one or more of the following program areas—educational services, workforce development, community building, harm reduction , family support, leadership development, or youth organizing.
8. Experience with diverse models of working with youth (i.e. understanding of principles of youth development, youth-adult partnership, harm reduction, positive sexuality).
9. Experience working with transgender youth, young women, youth of color, youth with disabilities, young men who have sex with men (YMSM), youth living with HIV, system-engaged youth, immigrant communities, youth engaged in sex work, youth who are homeless / marginally-housed, and other historically marginalized groups.
10. Experience working with families of LGBTQQ youth.
11. Competent in working in a multiracial, multicultural, multi-gendered, and intergenerational environment.
12. Experience with data collection and reporting.
13. Experience with project management.
14. Experience developing effective collaborations with other agencies and communities.

Qualities/Attributes

1. A deep intersectional, social justice analysis. You consistently critically interrogate how oppressive ways of thinking, being, and seeing interact to create conditions that disempower and immobilize. You enjoy finding creative ways to push existing paradigms and are energized by supporting young people to practice collective futuristic visioning through various forms of artistic expression
2. Advanced experience facilitating social justice-centered workshops, conversations, and/or popular education trainings
3. Passion for and commitment to working with LGBTQQ youth.
4. Highly positive and enthusiastic style that motivates youth to achieve high standards, encourages peers to model LYRIC’s organizational principles/leadership competencies, and supports supervisors and other leaders in guiding the work of the organization.
5. Strong emotional self-management skills needed to provide youth-centered support to survivors of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.
6. Self-motivated and able to take initiative, manage, and complete multiple projects within deadlines and within budget.
7. Excellent written/verbal communication and facilitation skills.
8. Action-oriented with excellent problem-solving skills.
9. Highly organized and able to work in a fast-paced environment.
10. Ability to seek out, encourage, and exchange appreciative as well as developmental feedback with youth, colleagues, and supervisor.
11. Ability to identify and communicate needs for support.
12. Ability to foster a healthy work/life balance that supports the provision of high quality, sustainable programs and services for youth.
13. Ability to address challenges directly by de-escalating conflict and fostering mutual understanding.
14. Commitment to ongoing one’s self-improvement/professional development and LYRIC’s long-term sustainability.

Ability to work evenings and weekends as required.

Compensation

The starting hourly rate for this non-exempt role is $30.58 per hour. We offer fixed pay rate, non-negotiable. 

Other benefits include:

• Full coverage of medical, dental, vision, and acupuncture/chiropractic insurance for employee;
• $800 annual health & wellness cash supplement;
• Annual, merit-based raises up to 5%;
• 403b retirement plan;
• Generous holiday, vacation, sick, and personal leave;
• Flexible schedule to support work/life balance; and
• Position may meet qualifications for Perkins Student Loan cancellation.

Equal Opportunity Employer

LYRIC is an equal opportunity employer. Applications are strongly encouraged from women, people of color, immigrants, young people, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender and genderqueer people, people living with HIV/AIDS, people with disabilities, and bilingual and bicultural people. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.