What are the responsibilities and job description for the PM Substance Use Specialist position at The Night Ministry?
PM SUBSTANCE USE SPECIALIST (FULL-TIME)
The Night Ministry of Chicago, IL is looking to hire a PM Substance Use Specialist to work with our Health Ministry team. Do you want to help a respected nonprofit organization accomplish its mission of serving people in your community who are struggling with poverty and homelessness? Do you want to work for an organization that truly values its employees? If so, please read on!
This PM Substance Use Specialist provides care and support for people seeking substance use education and recovery that are receiving services through Health Outreach programs. Collaborate to locate, create and maintain relationships with the homeless through outreach. This includes participation in van-based outreach and on-foot outreach in selected areas where the homeless are likely to congregate. If this sounds like the opportunity for you to build a career while fighting homelessness, apply today!
ABOUT THE NIGHT MINISTRY
With open hearts and minds, we provide housing, healthcare, spiritual care, social services, and human connection to members of the Chicago community who are struggling with poverty and homelessness. We accept people as they are and work to address their immediate physical, emotional, and social needs while affirming their sense of humanity. We were founded when a coalition of diverse North Side congregations hired Rev. Tom Behrens to reach out to people where they gathered at night due to isolation, despair, and homelessness. From those humble beginnings over 40 years ago when Tom's first office was the trunk of his car, we have grown to a financially sound nonprofit that provides numerous award-winning services to the most vulnerable in our community.
Although not all employees are involved in direct services, everyone is dedicated to the mission of The Night Ministry, believes in its core values, and knows that their work is highly valued. We strive to be the best employer possible, providing our employees with a mission-driven work atmosphere that is both focused and fun as well as a benefits package that we feel is one of the best in the industry.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PM SUBSTANCE USE SPECIALIST
- Conduct client assessments to help support clients with internal and external resources
- Support clients who use substances by being knowledgeable about substances and their effects, and treatment options, encouraging practices that increase safety and reduce harm; and providing referrals and support into treatment
- Work with an interdisciplinary team (medical provider, case manager(s) to provide resources and support to access resources in all other areas, including medical care and housing.
- Maintain and be knowledgeable of relationships with partners to offer and support clients as they access Medication Assisted Treatment
- Accurate and timely data entry in external and internal databases, i.e. Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Efforts to Outcomes (ETO)
- Drive the Outreach Van as needed; be knowledgeable about the encampment locations to be visited
- Be available as a listening ear and resource to people who visit our Health Outreach programs and provide substance use services to other Night Ministry programs
- Establish relationships and build rapport in a non-judgmental way; employ motivational interviewing and harm reduction methods to engage visitors in services available; offer referrals for social services
- Organize and provide Harm Reduction kits
- Provide The Night Ministry staff with Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention Training as needed
- Give volunteers opportunities to participate, as well as the opportunity to serve whenever possible
- Complete, maintain, and submit required documents accurately and on schedule.
- Keep up-to-date with the issues related to the target population, including current literature, available resources, and street dynamics
- Attend staff, agency, and inter-agency meetings as able
- Participate in training opportunities as required or as able
- Occasionally represent The Night Ministry to community and congregational groups, participating in The Night Ministry's public relations and fund-raising activities as required or as able
- Special projects and duties as assigned
QUALIFICATIONS FOR A PM SUBSTANCE USE SPECIALIST
- Comfort with developing and implementing new venues and methods of outreach.
- Street smarts; able to work comfortably in all Chicago neighborhoods
- Evidence of excellent interpersonal skills
- Must be trauma-competent, LGBTQQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual) competent, street culture competent, and able to work with diverse populations.
- Be knowledgeable about Harm Reduction, Trauma-Informed Care, and Housing First Approach
READY TO JOIN IN OUR FIGHT AGAINST HOMELESSNESS?
If you feel that you would be right for this PM Substance Use Specialist position and you are passionate about our mission and think you have what it takes to be successful in this role even if you don't check all the boxes, please apply. We'd appreciate the opportunity to consider your application. The PM Substance Use Specialist has an hourly salary of $20-23 an hour, please fill out our initial 3-minute, mobile-friendly application. We look forward to meeting you!
The Night Ministry is committed to racial equity in its services, its organizational structure, and its policies and procedures. Given that the majority of those whom The Night Ministry serves and the majority of our staff are people of color, we must center racial equity in our day-to-day operations as well as in our strategic planning and take deliberate and thoughtful action to become an anti-racist organization.
Through this work, we will identify and dismantle institutional racism within our organization. We will empower staff, clients, and partners with the tools and support to disrupt white supremacy within the confines of the agency and within the spheres in which we operate. We commit to the ongoing, collective assessment of where we are as an organization and where we want to be while formulating and taking the necessary steps to get there. We call upon all members of our community, from staff, volunteers, and supporters to our clients, to engage with us on our commitment to anti-racism.
Salary : $20 - $23
