Part-Time Peer Support Professional

​

Scope:

Peer Support Professionals are individuals with lived experience in their own recovery with mental health, substance use disorders, and/or trauma. Peer Support Professionals are part of a trauma-informed services team that engage with and support Voluntad program participants to thrive and reach self-determined goals. The Voluntad Peer Support Professionals engage, inspire, and facilitate meaningful conversations that assist program participants to explore, create, and meet their own goals with respect to trauma, recovery, mental health, and other issues that could impact their ability to maintain housing, access to benefits, employment and job training, and family stability. Voluntad Peer Support Professionals provide consultation to the Voluntad services team to promote and reinforce participants' goals and perspectives, and to ensure that each participant’s point of view and preferences are recognized, understood, respected, and integrated into services and self-identified programming.

 

Qualifications: ​

• High School Diploma or GED required 

• Successful completion of Peer Support Training / Certified Peer Professional or Peer Employment Training (For example Colorado Mental Wellness Peer Professional Training)

• Participation in all required Street’s Hope/Voluntad trainings for human trafficking,  trauma informed care, and the Housing First and Voluntary Services Models, initially at employment and ongoing

• Must be at least 21 years of age 

• All opportunities at Street’s Hope/Voluntad are contingent on I-9 verification and criminal background check. If the position involves driving, a valid driver’s license, a motor vehicle clearance, and proof of auto insurance are required at the time of employment and must be maintained throughout employment

• Bilingual and Bicultural preferred 

• Prior work experience as a peer professional preferred

• Draws upon own personal recovery and lived experience with participants as a peer, and to validate participant’s own lived experiences

• Assists participants with voicing their strengths, interests, and goals throughout their services including: goal plans, safety and crisis plans and other methods of expressing individual preferences 

• Utilizes a comprehensive resource guide and educates participants served about local community supports and resources

• Supports participants served in developing strategies to reduce self-stigma

• Actively participates in multidisciplinary team meetings 

• Travels locally to provide outreach to participants served in the community

 

Skills: 

• Knowledge of the mental health recovery process

• Ability to utilize principles of harm reduction and trauma informed care with a wide variety of participant experience and trauma 

• Knowledge of recovery focused, strengths based work in mental health/substance use recovery 

• Willing to understand each participant’s unique circumstances, personal preferences, and goals and incorporate them into daily work as well as any needed crisis response to help the participant regain a sense of control 

• Strong understanding of recovery and resilience, the value of partnerships with participants, the value of participants choices, and the balance between protection from harm and personal dignity 

• Peer Support Professional should have an awareness of their needs as it relates to their own recovery, and be willing and ready to address this when vicarious trauma arises. If hired, development of a workplace WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) would be developed with your supervisor to best support you and Street’s Hope/Voluntad clients. 

• Strong knowledge of relevant community resources and methods for accessing them

• Knowledge of and ability to use public transportation  

• Strong communication, writing, and typing/computer skills  

 

Hours and Salary:     

Hours vary. Initial hours will include multiple training hours. In general, between 8-10 hours per week, working with 1-3 program participants. $25.00 per hour. 

​

Please send resume and cover letter to:

Caroline McKinnon, Caroline@voluntad.org 720-420-9951