Bridge of Hope Case Manager

Summary of the Role

A Bridge of Hope Case Manager builds partnerships between families at risk of homelessness and the local faith community, providing wrap-around care services to support families in their goal of gaining long-term stability. The Bridge of Hope Case Manager plays a vital role in supporting our MTM Ministry Department. This role works under the direction of the Bridge of Hope Director, and in collaboration with the Director of Church Engagement, Chaplain, and Associate Director of Ministry and Training to provide quality case management for Bridge of Hope families, encourage active church engagement, and support the robust spiritual life of the mission. Detailed data tracking, strong interpersonal skills, Spanish fluency, and availability to work outside standard working hours are preferred characteristics of the Bridge of Hope Case Manager position.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Mel Trotter Ministries Staff Attributes

We expect all staff to project and exemplify a passion for a faith-based approach, to advocate for the guests, to be humble, supportive team players, who acknowledge their gifts and those of others, are truthfully transparent, seek input from others, admit and learn from mistakes, are highly coachable and approachable. We expect a hungry, innovative, goal-oriented, eager contributor, who shows a dedicated work ethic. We expect our staff to exhibit empathy, compassion, active listening, self-awareness, and practice sensitivity across racial, class, and cultural lines. We look for work habits of punctuality, dependability, accountability, responsibility, cooperation, integrity, problem-solving, and overall positivity.

These attributes, combined with the performance of one's duties and achievement of goals, will be equated with the quality of one's overall job performance. Please refer to them often and feel free to ask for feedback on these areas regularly.

Job Plan

Family Entry

• Receive agency, church and self-referrals and conduct "initial inquiries" via phone and maintain records of these inquiries.
• Participate in interviews with potential families as requested.
• Along with other staff as applicable, make the final determination of a family's entrance into the program.

Service Development

• Conduct extensive and ongoing assessment for each family member using the Family Assessment.
• Initiate and maintain a Service Agreement and Family Goal Plan with each Neighboring Family. This plan should be updated on a regular basis (every 3-4 months).
• Complete additional paperwork for the beginning of services.

Housing

• Build landlord partnerships to enhance access to housing for families.
• Assist families in exploring a variety of housing options, the housing search, and move in process, including ensuring appropriate furnishings.
• Help families access and manage their credit, eviction, and criminal histories.
• Create and administer a rental assistance plan with the family to meet their individual needs.
• Educate families on basic tenant and landlord rights and responsibilities and assure that each family understands their own lease.

Ongoing Case Management

• Encourage and nurture the family in building trusting relationships in their Bridge of Hope Neighborhood of Support.
• Provide case management for each member of the Neighboring Family as needed and desired.
• Work with each family to promote and encourage growth based on Bridge of Hope's desired outcomes of safe and sustainable housing, strong and resilient families, and supportive relationships that open doors.

• Promote family resilience and well-being by providing opportunities for specialized screening and linking to community resources as desired by the family.
• Equip families around money management and provide hands-on assistance with monthly financial planning.
• Maintain case records and documentation for each family unit in the program.
• Coordinate a graduation celebration for each family completing the program.
• Participate in regular supervision with supervisor.

Neighboring

• Prepare and guide both the Neighboring Volunteers and the Neighboring Family in building relationships with each other, assisting the family in identifying how they would like the Neighboring Volunteers to be involved with their family, and assisting the Neighboring Volunteers in discovering ways that they can support the family in achieving their goals and meeting everyday needs.
• Maintain regular communication with the group coordinator for the Neighboring

Volunteers.

• Develop and maintain relationships with Neighboring Volunteers and respond to individual needs/calls/questions.
• Meet with Neighborhood members to facilitate resolution of conflicts/challenges as they arise.
• Attend Neighborhood Gatherings and assist in planning and facilitating as needed/required.
• Facilitate closure for the Neighborhood when the family graduates or otherwise leaves the program.
• Maintain case records and documentation for group of Neighboring Volunteers in the program.

Evaluation Process

• Maintain demographic data for Neighboring Families and Neighboring Volunteers and assure they complete the standard Bridge of Hope benchmarking forms, entering all data in the Bridge of Hope database.
• Maintain occasional casual contact with Bridge of Hope alumni to provide follow up support and conduct alumni follow-up surveys.

Network with and build positive, working relationships with other agencies

• Build relationships with other community agencies to enhance the process of both receiving and making family referrals.
• Participate in regular community service coordination meetings as appropriate, such as housing coalitions/Continuums of Care.
• Participate in Bridge of Hope network-wide program calls as well as networking and training opportunities, including attendance at the annual Bridge of Hope

Church Engagement

• Church engagement involves proactively reaching out to local churches in alignment with the departmental communication strategy and referring interested churches to the Bridge of Hope Director for further development.

Other Responsibilities

• Attend departmental meetings as required.
• Attend weekly Bridge of Hope Direct Service calls.
• Carry out church contacts in line with departmental goals.
• Aid families in their participation in the Bridging Faith discipleship curriculum.
• Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in social work, ministry, sociology, or other related field.
• Minimum 2 years of related experience working with vulnerable populations.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, Outlook, and workflow management platforms.
• Highly organized with ability to create action steps within larger departmental strategy.
• Relentlessly optimistic with deep faith in how Christ and His body can affect deep social change in our communities.
• Spanish fluency preferred.

Working Conditions

• Regular standing, walking, climbing, crouching, bending, pushing, or pulling
• Understand, speak, read, and write fluent English
• Ability to communicate verbally and to accurately hear, with hearing correction
• Ability to see 20/20, with vision correction
• Able to lift up to 20 pounds regularly
• Able to use fine motor hand functions