Who We Are Looking For: Are you the Peer Leader we have been looking for? In this position you will be able to convey your passion for helping others by working with people in the community! Peer Support Services program directly responds to people who are infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS by providing a myriad of one-on-one and peer-led social support activities. These activities include support groups that embrace the diversity of our community. Peer Support Services provides support and education for individuals around topics such as medications, relationships, sexual health, stigma, substance use, communication, and much more. What You'll Do:
- Be a role model who provides reliable information, appropriate referrals, and emotional support to people living with HIV or AIDS.
- Encourage, support, listen, and provide resources and tools that help clients improve health outcomes and their quality of life.
- Work in a team setting as one component of the client's coordinated care.
- Provide individual and group level support to program participants.
- Recruit new clients for participation in all PSS services.
- Provide information and supported referrals to all clients for primary care, social support, emotional support, vocational needs and prevention needs.
- Assess client's needs, income, residency, and provide service planning.
- Create new client charts with all required documentation; maintain charts through regular reassessments, service plans, and tracking of outcomes.
- Write progress notes in client chart after 1:1 and group level contact with program participants documenting the nature of the contact, topics discussed, referrals made, and amount of time spent.
- Conduct face-to-face client visit a minimum of once a year to reassess service needs.
- Update income verification, residency, and health insurance status in client charts a minimum of twice a year (every six month).
- Other duties as assigned by the Program Manager.
Why JRI?
- Be who you are! JRI is strongly committed to providing an inclusive, diverse and welcoming environment for our employees and the people we serve.
- We offer a $2,000 bilingual bonus to new hires who speak a second language other than English!
- Reimbursement is available for employees to cover the registration costs and annual fees for any professional license required for work such as LMHC, LCSW, LICSW, RN and more!
- Access to our excellent Blue Cross medical and Delta Dental benefits.
- Retirement benefits including 401K matched up to $800 a year and pension after 5 years of employment.
- Professional development opportunities such as tuition reimbursement up to almost $4000 per year and discounted tuition rates to select partnership colleges and universities!
- Wellness benefits including access to employee resource groups (including multicultural affinity groups, LGBTQ+ advocacy, employee engagement groups, etc.), self-care resources, and an Employee Assistance Program.
- Generous paid time off up to 19 days for full time employees in your first year and much more!
Requirements:
- High school diploma; some college preferred.
- Firsthand knowledge of HIV/AIDS.
- Experience providing direct support services to people living with HIV/AIDS.
- Demonstrated ability to interact with people from diverse backgrounds and communities, including youth, homeless individuals, people who use substances, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people of color.
- An individual committed to social justice mission and principles of cultural responsiveness, harm reduction, and trauma-informed care. Demonstrated cultural responsiveness and ability to work with diverse populations including Black, Latinx, LGBTQ+ cultures and cultures of people who use drugs (PWUD).
- Ability and willingness to attend required training.
- Knowledge of harm reduction philosophy and practice.
- Ability to embrace and communicate a positive, self-affirming, empowering attitude toward the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS.
- Ability and willingness to share personal experiences of living with HIV/AIDS to help educate, provide emotional support, and offer practical self-care strategies to clients.
- Good interpersonal and communication skills; reliably accessible by phone and/or email.
- Ability to advocate for self and others.
- Computer skills, office software familiarity, internet literacy, social media platforms, writing skills.
- Flexible schedule.
JRI is strongly committed to providing an inclusive, diverse and welcoming environment for our employees and the people we serve. Persons from diverse backgrounds including women, communities of color, the LGBTQ community and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply. JRI is an equal opportunity employer. #IND123