Housing Advocate (Welcome Home Washington and HomeFront Programs)

Who We Are

Solid Ground (SG) is an award-winning nonprofit organization whose proven, holistic approach helps families build the strong foundations they need to emerge from homelessness into a brighter future. Through safe, affordable housing and innovative supportive programming, Solid Ground helps families transition to a higher-level of self-sufficiency and break the cycle of homelessness and poverty for the next generation.

Why You'll Love Working Here

At the heart of Solid Ground is the belief that housing stability is fundamental to the healthy development of children and to a family's ability to be contributing members of the community. Solid Ground currently runs eight programs in suburban Ramsey and Washington Counties and housing over 660 individuals annually. Our mission is to prevent and end homelessness for families with children in the communities we serve through housing, resources, and opportunity.

Wages and Benefits

$23.00 - $25.00 per hour; Paid vacation time, sick time, plus ten paid holidays and two floating holidays; competitive health, dental, and vision insurance; health savings account (HSA), and options for flexible spending accounts (FSA). There is employer paid basic life insurance with the option for additional coverage paid by the employee. The employer pays the premiums for Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) and long-term disability insurance. SG sponsors a retirement plan with automatic enrollment at 3% and a 3% employer match after one year of service, plus immediate vesting.

Job Summary

Solid Ground is hiring a Housing Advocate to assist families experiencing homelessness in regaining stability and self-reliance through affordable housing, increased income, community resources, child/youth advocacy, and supportive services. This position will work with our Welcome Home Washington and HomeFront programs. Welcome Home Washington is a Scattered Site Permanent Housing Program in Washington County and HomeFront is a Site Based Permanent Supportive Housing Program in Maplewood, MN.

Responsibilities

• Locating housing and providing supportive services to help families access resources and build skills needed to achieve housing stability.
• Completing lead-based inspections, habitability, and rent reasonableness checklists to ensure units meet health and safety standards, including notifying landlords of required repairs as needed.
• Assisting families with housing applications, interviews, and lease signing processes.
• Scheduling Housing Quality Standards (HQS) inspections and following up to ensure all required repairs are completed.
• Providing supportive services to help families develop and achieve goals related to budgeting and finances, education, employment, physical, mental, and chemical health, transportation, housing stability, and parenting.
• Serving as the primary liaison to participating landlords and property owners and maintaining regular monthly communication.
• Attending meetings and collaborating with area provider networks and service partners.
• Establishing regular home visits after housing placement to support housing stabilization planning and goal achievement.
• Completing the Self-Sufficiency Matrix and developing, updating, and reviewing individualized Goal Plans at least every six months to document progress.
• Completing child education and financial evaluations every six months or as changes occur.
• Assisting participants with housing recertification processes.
• Providing transportation support to assist with stabilization and goal completion as needed.
• Facilitating community engagement activities and program-related projects as directed.
• Coordinating financial assistance for eligible participants, including application fees, damage deposits, and rent assistance.
• Preparing relevant correspondence such as deposit guarantee letters and completing required funding request forms.
• Assisting families with school enrollment, understanding Individual Education Plans (IEPs), and participating in school meetings, parent-teacher conferences, Child Protection meetings, and court hearings related to Child Protective Services.
• Monitoring school attendance and academic progress of school-age children and addressing barriers to academic success through school-based engagement when permitted.
• Completing ASQ-3 and ASQ-SE screenings for children from birth to five years old and making appropriate referrals as needed.
• Documenting all services and activities completed with or on behalf of participants through timely, accurate case notes to support participant progress, agency accountability, and funder requirements.

Who You Are

• You have a bachelor's degree in human services, social work, or a related field, plus at least one year of experience in a social service advocacy role, or you have an equivalent combination of education and experience that provides comparable knowledge.
• You hold an LSW or MSW, or bring equivalent experience, with licensure preferred but not required.
• You bring lived experience that informs and strengthens your advocacy work.
• You have experience working with people from diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds in homeless or housing-focused settings or related environments.
• You have experience supporting underserved communities and families facing behavioral and mental health challenges, chemical dependency or substance use, homelessness, and other systemic barriers.
• You demonstrate a strong understanding of and commitment to Housing First philosophy and trauma-informed practices.
• You possess strong communication skills in both oral and written formats with individuals and groups.
• You understand how poverty, welfare reform, systemic racism, affordable housing access, mental health, and related issues impact participants and inform service design.
• You have the ability to manage multiple priorities while completing work in a timely and productive manner.
• You are skilled in motivational interviewing and crisis intervention.
• You understand laws governing rental housing and are able to locate affordable housing options for program participants.
• You are knowledgeable about community resources or able to quickly learn and navigate local service systems.
• You are able to transport participants as needed and travel to various locations for daytime and evening meetings and events.
• You have a valid driver's license, access to reliable transportation, and the ability to meet Solid Ground's driving record requirements. Please note that if the license was not issued in the state of Minnesota, you have 60 days after becoming a Minnesota resident in which to apply for your Minnesota driver's license or permit (not applicable for new hires living out of state).

Diversity and open expression are fundamental to the work of Solid Ground. We are passionate about building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable working environment where everyone can belong. Every member of our team enriches our work by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design, and deliver solutions. We welcome everyone to apply, especially those individuals who are underrepresented in our sector: individuals who identify as BIPOC, Indigenous or people of culture, LGBTQI+ and gender fluid or gender nonconforming, individuals with disabilities (both seen and unseen), veterans, people of any age or family status. We value the contributions of a diverse workforce, and we welcome and encourage applications from all underrepresented groups. We encourage you to apply even if you feel like you don't fit 100% of the technical requirements.

Equal Opportunity Employer: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, ancestry, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, disability, age, marital status, membership or activity in a local human rights commission, status with regard to public assistance, criminal history (justice-impacted status), housing or homelessness status, height, or weight.

Our organization has a partnership with Metropolitan Alliance of Connected Communities (MACC) to provide administrative services including management of the hiring process. If you apply for this position, you may see references to MACC in some online materials.

Solid Ground participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. See E-Verify's official poster at https://e-verify.uscis.gov/web/media/resourcesContents/E-Verify_Participation_Poster_ES.pdf. See E-Verify's Right to Work poster at https://www.e-verify.gov/sites/default/files/everify/posters/IER_RightToWorkPoster%20Eng_Es.pdf.