Housing Resource Specialist

About Community Housing Network

Community Housing Network (CHN) is a nonprofit organization committed to providing homes for people in need through proven strategies of homeless prevention, housing assistance, affordable housing development, community education, advocacy, and referrals. Since 2001, CHN has served as the leading Housing Resource nonprofit organization in southeast Michigan and serves thousands of families and individuals annually who are facing homelessness, people with disabilities, low-income households, and other vulnerable Michigan residents.

Community Housing Network is Opening Doors and Transforming Lives through a work environment dedicated to empowering a work/life balance success through our Core Values: Inclusion, Integrity, Innovation and Passion.

CHN is committed to cultivating and preserving a culture of inclusion and connectedness which includes:

• Creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace to provide better services for participants and staff.
• Utilizing a trauma informed approach to build rapport with vulnerable populations.
• Making educational resources available related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, all the while providing a platform for conversation.

Community Housing Network provides excellent employment opportunities with competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package. All full-time employees enjoy a rich package of benefits including:

• Health Insurance
• Dental
• Vision
• Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
• 401k
• Life Insurance
• Long Term Disability Insurance
• Voluntary Products: Aflac, Short Term Disability Insurance, Life Insurance
• Generous Vacation and Medical Leave Time

Community Housing Network is an equal-opportunity employer recognized by the Detroit Free Press as a Top 100 Workplace and honored as a Crain’s Cool Place to Work.

Housing Resource (HRC) Specialist:

Department: Community Programs

Reports to: HRC Supervisor

Employment Status Classification: Non-Exempt, Full-Time Hourly

Salary Range: $17.00 per hour

Job Description Summary:

Our Housing Resource Center (HRC) is a one-stop-shop call center to help individuals with their housing needs. As a trained Housing Resource Specialist, you will conduct a screening asking callers about their current housing situation. Their responses will guide you through the screening process to recommend options connecting the caller to the programs and resources that may be able to assist them in resolving their housing crisis. Such programs will include:

• Community resources and programs that provide housing assistance.
• Affordable housing options.
• Information on subsidized housing and other long-term housing options.

Essential Functions:

• Conduct a screening via telephone or in person for individuals in housing crisis.
• Assess the caller’s needs to provide appropriate referrals and resources, related to eligibility.
• Experience with community resources and services related to housing in Oakland County and Macomb County is essential to work duties.
• Assist potential program participants in completing applications for appropriate housing options.
• Possess proficient computer skills with Microsoft Office Products. Working knowledge of the Coordinated Entry System (CES) and Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) desired.
• Attentive to details, well organized to multitask in a fast-paced environment to enter details of the call into a secure database such as Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and/or Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Portal.
• Motivated to assure work is both high quality with attention to detail and work duties completed on time.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Able to work as a part of a team as well as being self-directed.

Qualifications and Skills:

• Successfully complete required trainings enabling you to enter independently in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) utilized to record data for screening and working with clients at Community Housing Network.
• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Computer skills with Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Outlook and the Internet.
• Enjoy working in a team environment and developing professional relationships with other departments and community partners.
• Demonstrate the CHN Core Values of Inclusion, Integrity, Innovation and Passion in all interactions.
• Must possess excellent interpersonal and telephone communication skills.

Travel

The position has the opportunity to represent CHN in out of office meetings and community events on occasion and would require the use of your personal automobile.

Reliable transportation, possession of a valid driver's license, and maintenance of automobile insurance coverage that meets organization coverage limit requirements. (Bodily Injury $100,000 each person and $300,000 each occurrence and Property Damage of $100,000 each occurrence.)

Work Environment and Physical Demands

• This position is full-time, working a schedule of 40 hours per week between the hours of 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday.
• A minimum of 3 days weekly is required in the Troy office, with the potential of 5 days in the office.
• To work from home with pre-approval, the candidate must have a home office that allows for privacy and strong internet services.
• While performing the functions of this job, the position is both sedentary and at times requires the ability to be active including standing, bending, lifting and/or arranging files and office products and supplies and may require employee to periodically stand on a short step stool to access files.

Disclaimer

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change, or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.