Housing Specialist
About Young Community Developers
Established in 1973, YCD is a nonprofit organization who serves residents of all ages living in the most historically underserved communities of San Francisco. YCD takes a holistic approach via a delivery eco-system of services designed to empower residents in achieving economic mobility,
in turn building and sustaining a positive community by providing them with education opportunities, workforce development training, and social services. YCD's philosophy is that every individual should have the right to sustainable and generational economic mobility, aiming to break the cycle of poverty. Each year YCD provides around 1,200 community members with employment and training services through their programs and partnerships. YCD is also proud to share that they have been voted by NonProfit Times as one of the top 50 best nonprofits to work for in the United States!
Project Overview
YCD's Housing Pillar is a dynamic team of three-subdepartments (development, services, and policy) working collaboratively to provide a range of housing services to culturally diverse populations in San Francisco to promote stable, dignified, and inclusive communities. We strive to create culturally responsive holistic pathways to stable housing for vulnerable populations with a focus on BIPOC communities in San Francisco. Our pillar collectively selected the following four values that best represents us and the work we provide: Culturally Competent, Empathetic, Resourceful and Responsive. The Housing Specialist will be joining a season team of case managers, program coordinators and a program manager on the housing services team, committed to serving residents of San Francisco to address the housing crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Young Community Developers (YCD) is looking to hire a Housing Specialist to join the Housing Team to administer funding and provide direct services to help stabilize households throughout the communities of San Francisco.
POSITION SUMMARY
Under the direct supervision of the Program Manager, the Housing Specialist is responsible for marketing to landlords and getting their buy-in to rent to extremely vulnerable populations. This role will also require client engagement to secure housing. The Housing Specialist will work one-on-one with clients to provide housing counseling, application assistance, advocacy, financial coaching, and referrals to other programs. Also, a fundamental function will be marketing and collaborating across internal departments. The Housing Specialist is responsible for supporting, verifying, and timely processing rental assistance applications. The Housing Specialist should excel at understanding the rental process and Homeless Response System within the Bay Area. Other functions: maintain detailed case records, troubleshoot errors, process errors, complete funding requests, and uphold reporting requirements. This position is contract-based and scheduled to end June 30, 2025, with a pending 3-year extension.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Landlord engagement and relationship building.
• Ability to navigate tenant rights and eviction processes, including the justice-involved population.
- Working collectively and assisting other community partners when needed.
- Maintain a housing navigation caseload that includes the following:
- Thoroughly and diligently complete an intake and a personalized assessment on the client's overall needs.
- Assist clients to identify goals and create an individualized action plan.
- Support clients with market-rate and below-market-rate housing applications, including utilizing the DAHLIA housing portal.
- Navigate the housing market with housing subsidies, such as Housing Choice Vouchers.
- Apply and process applications through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) and Season of Sharing (SOS) for move-in costs once approved for housing.
- Provide financial coaching, including credit review, credit repaid, and creating a values-based budget.
- Maintain a moderate caseload for ERAP and SOS with detailed and organized records, case notes, and files.
- Data entry tasks using Salesforce, Microsoft Office Suite, Google Workspace, Dataverse, ONE System (HMIS), and other technology platforms.
• Assist in preparation for program audits and monitoring visits.
- Assisting in marketing the program and services and shaping narratives for storytelling for YCD social media in partnership with the Marketing team.
• Ability to provide services within the community with compassion and cultural competency while using a holistic approach to resolution.
• Assisting in developing and streamlining processes as program changes and pivots.
• Participates in regular team, agency, funder, and community meetings. • Must be collaborative and promote teamwork.
- Supporting the housing team with miscellaneous functions and other duties as assigned.
A successful candidate will possess:
• B.A./B.S. degree in a related field urban planning, social work, sociology or other relevant field experience or a minimum of 3 years of relevant experience preferred.
• Minimum of 2 years experience in the field of housing services.
• Minimum of 1-year experience in case management.
• Must have experience in community engagement or community development.
• Experience in housing navigation and understanding of the Homeless Response System preferred.
• Excellent cross-cultural communication skills and the ability and willingness to work with an economically and culturally diverse clientele from various backgrounds.
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills, written communications, patience, diplomacy, and a high level of customer service skills.
• Ability to think critically, problem solve, and be resourceful.
• Embraces cultural differences and is willing to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Self-motivated individual who has a passion for ensuring that program goals, objectives, and tasks are completed in a timely fashion and exceed standards.
• An efficient multi-tasker who demonstrates effective time management and the capacity to meet competing deadlines.
• Must have proven ability to work both independently and as part of a team. • Demonstrate effective written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong commitment to the mission of Young Community Developers Inc. and to serving the community with compassion.
• Well organized, ability to work in a fast-paced environment and meet goal objectives, excellent team player, true attention to detail, and ability to complete paperwork accurately and in a timely manner.
• Continuous commitment to improve occupational knowledge and professional growth.
ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:
To best mitigate the spread of disease and protect our staff, it is a condition of employment that all employees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Because YCD prioritizes the health and well-being of employees, proof of vaccination will be required upon hire and be kept on file for each employee.
LOCATION: San Francisco, CA
JOB TYPE: Full Time - Non-Exempt
SUPERVISORY: No
COMPENSATION: $27.00-$32.00/hour
Final offer amounts are based on multiple factors such as the specific role, hiring location, as well as the individual's skills, experience and qualifications.
BENEFITS PACKAGE
We recognize there are many factors that influence your overall satisfaction both at work and in your personal life. Under our Total Rewards Package, we provide an integrated mixture of compensation, benefits, company culture, and resources to our employees that help you reach a happier, more balanced life. Our work environment is built around collaboration and partnership, teamwork, community, diversity and inclusion. Some of these offerings include:
- Competitive compensation to reward you for your hard work every day.
- Generous zero to low-cost Medical, Dental, Vision premiums, and Life insurance
- Free life insurance and long-term disability insurance
- Employer-sponsored Health Spending Account with eligible plans
- 2 weeks of vacation accrued annually for the first 2 years of employment
- Accrued paid sick time; 96 hours max
- 15 paid holidays annually (Presidential Election Day added every 4 years)
- Personal Birthday Holiday
- End-of-Year paid Respite Week
- Employee Assistance Program
- Mental Health & Wellness services for all employees
- 4% company 401K contribution after one year of service and 21 Years of Age
- Professional development program to promote career advancement
- Discounts in retail, travel, and entertainment
- A fun, purposeful, and inclusive culture through in-office events, volunteerism, and community-based networking opportunities.
Young Community Developers is an "at-will" and Equal Opportunity Employer.
Applicants and employees shall not be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, gender (including pregnancy and gender expression) identity, color, marital status, veteran status, medical condition, or any other classification protected by federal, state, or local law or ordinance.
Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.