Job Opening: Wasco/Sherman County Housing Placement and Outreach Specialist

Why work at MCCAC?

Mid-Columbia Community Action Council (MCCAC), located in heart of the beautiful Columbia River Gorge, serves Hood River, Wasco and Sherman Counties. MCCAC offers programs and services to ensure our most vulnerable community members have access to healthy, safe, stable, affordable housing. This is accomplished through our housing, energy/utility payment assistance and weatherization programs.

MCCAC’s mission is to build a better future for our community through partnership and equity-centered programs that prevent and eliminate poverty and houselessness.

Job Purpose:

The Housing Placement and Outreach Specialist plays a key role in working to end houselessness and address barriers to housing access in the MCCAC service area. This position is a blended street outreach and housing placement role. Outreach priorities include providing case management and linking houseless clients to basic needs resources such as food boxes and hygiene, shelter and safety, and other available community resources. Housing placement priorities include coordinating with housing service providers, landlords, partner organizations, and clients to move households out of houselessness and into transitional or permanent housing.

Duties, Tasks, and Responsibilities:

Client case management, empowerment, and education (50%)

• Manage active caseload, including:

  • Housing Placement:

    • Coordinate with MCCAC Shelter, Outreach, and Housing Navigation staff to develop and prioritize the organization’s housing placement waitlist

    • Close cases upon completion, move clients off of the waitlist, and open new cases according to availability and pre-established criteria for waitlist prioritization

    • Assess clients’ barriers to housing and partner with clients to develop a housing stabilization plan that clients can commit to working on with MCCAC staff and partners

    • Assist clients with initial housing placement, including the housing search and application process, providing support as needed paying application, move-in, and rent costs

    • Schedule and conduct regular follow-up appointments with clients once they have been placed in housing to assess progress of their housing stabilization plan

    • Schedule and conduct regular tenant education workshops; facilitate engagement of housing placement clients in workshops as necessary

  • Street Outreach:

    • Perform limited street and camp outreach with housing program staff and community partners to engage with families and individuals experiencing houselessness

    • Respond to referrals from shelters, law enforcement, faith-based organizations, culturally specific organizations, social service providers, employment specialists, physical and behavioral health care providers, and community-based organizations

    • Address urgent, physical and safety needs of individuals and families experiencing homelessness to the extent possible and otherwise maintain/update waitlist for more intensive case work

    • Coordinate services to Black, Indigenous and People of Color and LGBTQ+ community members, including through partnerships with culturally specific organizations

    • Utilize Harm Reduction, Trauma Informed Care, Rapid Rehousing and Housing First approaches

• Landlord recruitment and retention (30%)

  • Conduct regular landlord outreach events, individual meetings, and other activities to recruit new landlords to participate in MCCAC’s housing placement program. This includes:

    • Design, promotion, and implementation of landlord incentive programs and accompanying marketing materials

    • Strategic community outreach to local Chambers of Commerce, landlord associations, housing authority staff, faith communities, individual landlords, and others

    • Engage and troubleshoot with existing landlord partners as needed to facilitate conflict resolution between clients and landlords, and to retain landlords’ longer-term participation in MCCAC’s housing placement program; this includes ensuring timely payments to landlords

• Program administration and compliance (20%)

  • Manage and update housing placement program waitlist according to pre-established housing placement program referral guidelines and waitlist prioritization criteria

  • Provide clients with a list of necessary documentation to bring to housing placement and street outreach casework appointments

  • Maintain case files according to documentation requirements established by MCCAC internal policies and state and federal policies (including end of year file retention process)

  • Support timely data entry into HMIS, Smartsheets, and other systems

  • Respond to housing placement and street outreach related correspondence (via phone, e-mail, and in-person interactions) on a daily basis

  • Close cases and complete appropriate documentation according to clients’ individual housing stabilization plans, and guidelines established by MCCAC policies and grant requirements

Application Information:

Knowledge, Skills, and Qualifications:

• Experience serving unstably housed and/or houseless individuals

• Ability to adhere to agency and program policies and procedures and to maintain confidentiality

• Effective written and oral communication skills

• Ability to maintain professionalism; even in high pressure situations

• Ability to address sensitive situations with a culturally-competent, trauma-informed approach

• Ability to effectively handle high volume telephone, email, and in-person contact

• Ability to be prompt, dependable, and detail-oriented

• Knowledge of local rental market and knowledge or willingness to learn landlord/tenant laws

• Knowledge and demonstrated ability in Microsoft Office programs and ability to learn and use videoconferencing and other digital tools that enhance collaboration and communication

• High school Diploma or GED required; Associate’s degree preferred

• Ability to speak and write fluently in Spanish and English (strongly preferred)

• Satisfactory criminal background check

Position Details:

• This position is rated as active with frequent kneeling, stooping, bending, and sitting, regularly requires the individual to lift 30 pounds

• The duties outlined in this job description are not all inclusive; other duties/tasks will be assigned

• Prior to date of hire, and throughout employment certification of the following are required: valid driver’s license, proof of current auto insurance

• MCCAC is an equal employment opportunity provider.

• Location: In-person in Wasco and Sherman Counties in Oregon (office is in The Dalles); at least two days/week of in-person work in The Dalles are required; some remote work is feasible depending on candidates’ experience and qualifications

• Fair Labor Standards Classification: Full-Time, Exempt

• Reports to: Housing Stabilization Manager

Salary and Benefits:

• Salary $45,000 Annually (full time position, 40 hours/week with potential for longer hours)

  • Additional 3% pay differential for successful bilingual (Spanish and English) candidates

• Benefits: MCCAC offers an excellent benefits package including Blue Cross medical insurance with the agency covering 90% for employees and dependents. Dental and vision coverage. Life insurance, 401k, paid vacation and sick leave.

• This is a permanent position.

To Apply

Submit resume and cover letter to khorvath@mccac.com by Wednesday, August 17th, 2022. Cover letter should include why you are uniquely qualified to serve in the position, and what strengths you would bring to the role. Veterans, people of color and people with lived experience of houselessness are encouraged to apply.