Community Connections Coordinator (Casual, On-call)

First United; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 52,000 - 66,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Casual on-call role

Inclusive workplace culture

Job summary

FIRST UNITED is seeking a Community Connections Coordinator on a casual, on-call basis to greet visitors, ensure a safe environment, and support the Community Services team. The role requires trauma-informed collaboration with staff and volunteers during open hours, with a focus on dignity and safety for all community members.

The position involves rounds, safety checks, emergency response, and light administrative tasks, with availability during regular business hours from 8:00am to 4:00pm,

Qualifications

• Knowledge of the historical and ongoing impacts of colonialism and indigenous racism.
• Ability to work collaboratively with diverse groups using a trauma-informed approach.
• Ability to maintain a calm, welcoming and professional demeanor with vulnerable individuals.
• Ability to de-escalate challenging situations while maintaining safety.
• First Aid, CPR, and naloxone training.
• A satisfactory criminal record check is required.

Responsibilities

• Greet and connect with community members as the first point of contact.
• Monitor safety, oversee building activities, and ensure a secure environment.
• Assist with routine administrative tasks and daily logs.
• Coordinate with Community Services team and volunteers to support services.
• Respond to emergencies and provide basic first aid as needed.
• Distribute harm reduction supplies and assist with restroom/shower safety checks.
• Collaborate to deliver coordinated services and maintain community trust.

Skills

Trauma-informed

De-escalation

Calm demeanor

Collaboration

First Aid

CPR

Naloxone

Education

3+ years frontline social services

Post-secondary diploma

Job description

FIRST UNITED is a registered charity that has been serving Vancouver's Downtown Eastside community for 140 years. We offer responsive, low-barrier services to individuals who are low income, underhoused or homeless. We pursue dignity, belonging, and justice to meet the daily needs of community members while engaging in systems change work to reduce homelessness and break cycles of poverty. If you're looking for purpose-filled work and want to make a difference in the community, this might be the opportunity for you.

Each job within the FIRST UNITED CHURCH Community Ministry Society should promote our accomplishment of our vision, mission, and values.

WHAT WE OFFER

Wage: $28.37 per hour.

An inclusive and engaging workplace culture.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

The Community Connection Coordinator is essential as the first touch point for the community/visitors while the building is open to the public. The Community Connections Coordinator will actively greet and connect with individuals from the community and ensure the maintenance of a secure and safe environment. Working in close collaboration with the Community Services Team and volunteers to ensure the community members who access our services and building feel connected and are treated with dignity. This position assists with the oversight of building activities and ensures the safety and support of all community members, staff and volunteers.

We are currently seeking a candidate to fill in for this role on a casual, on-call basis. The Community Connections Coordinator operate during our regular business hours, from 8:00am to 4:00pm Monday through Friday. As such, candidates should have availability during some or all of these times.

SPECIFIC DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Ensuring all safety and emergency procedures are followed; guarding against theft, vandalism and fire.
• Liaising with emergency services personnel when they enter the building, assisting them with the location of the person in distress, and any other information they require to administer emergency services.
• Remaining consistently on site and in radio contact. If required to leave the building or go off the floor, communication with other staff and the Associate Director of Community Connection & Safety or designate is required.
• On a pre-determined schedule, making rounds of the building perimeter and premises, doing bathroom and shower room safety checks, and noting the entry and exit of employees, visitors, and other individuals.
• Monitoring and limiting access to employee-only areas, including but not limited to, offices, meeting rooms, the parking garage, loading dock, kitchen, cafe areas not being actively supervised by other staff or volunteers, multi-purpose rooms, library, and/or outdoor amenity space on the second floor.
• Ensuring areas/rooms are clear of people and locked when not in use.
• Responding to overdoses and performing CPR, first aid, and/or naloxone/Narcan administration when necessary.
• Directing visitors to the Community Services desk or other areas of the building, including but not limited to, the second and third floor services.
• Monitoring video surveillance system and reviewing and saving camera footage if necessary.
• Responding to radio calls for health and safety emergencies, by answering the radio call for assistance, ensuring naloxone/Narcan administration kit on hand at all times, physically attending the location of emergencies and giving first aid, CPR, administering naloxone/Narcan and/or calling emergency services if necessary.
• Reporting any breaches of building guidelines to the appropriate level of management
• Assisting emergency services when on site to the area of emergency and providing any other information they may require to administer emergency services.
• Maintaining documentation and doing administrative tasks related to the work such as keeping daily logs of activities, incident reports and any issues addressed.
• Collaborating with the Community Services team in related services (mental health and emergency services) to ensure a coordinated and streamlined approach with community, other staff members and volunteers.
• Light cleaning duties, including but not limited to, sanitizing high touch surfaces, disposing of garbage, safely disposing of needles and other drug paraphernalia.
• Distributing harm reduction supplies, clothing, food and other items, as necessary.

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS:

• Knowledge of the historical and ongoing impacts of colonialism and indigenous specific racism on indigenous peoples.
• Ability to work collaboratively with diverse groups of individuals using a trauma informed approach.
• Ability to maintain calm, welcoming, empathetic, and professional demeanor with vulnerable and/or marginalized individuals.
• Ability to de-escalate challenging situations with community and maintain safety in the environment with escalated individuals and groups.
• Friendly, attentive, observant and alert.
• De-escalation training certificate
• First Aid, CPR, and naloxone/Narcan administration training.
• All positions at First United require an ongoing satisfaction of a criminal record check.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:

• Minimum three (3) years’ of experience working in frontline social services delivery is required.
• Post secondary diploma in a relevant field or a combination of relevant education and experience.

SCOPE OF RESPONSIBILITY:

Supervisory Responsibility:

Community members, volunteers

Latitude:

The Community Connections Coordinator reports to the Associate Director of Community Connection & Safety to ensure adequate coverage of public use program areas on a daily basis, and to ensure a safe and dignified environment for community members, volunteers and staff.

INTERNAL/EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS:

Define any relationship accountability and communication needs with peers, management, leadership, Board of Directors, or external partners.

• Regular communication is maintained with all levels of staff and community members.
• Communication is maintained with outside partner organizations when they are guests in the building.
• Communication is also maintained with management and co-workers as work is assigned and completed, and information is exchanged on an ongoing basis.

JOB CLASSIFICATION:

Bargaining Unit

Job Classification: CSSEA Provincial Agreement JJEP Classification 11

We are committed to becoming a more just, equitable, inclusive, and diverse workplace, which extends to how we hire. We are continually learning new and unlearning old practices while examining systemic causes of inequity, including colonialism. We aim to be representative of the communities that we serve. We welcome everyone to apply, and we strongly encourage applications from members of communities that have been marginalized based on Indigeneity, race, colour, religion, nationality, social or ethnic origin, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression. In order to achieve a representative team, preference may be given to people who are members of one or more of these groups.