Housing Specialist

Program: HELP Unity| 23 W. 106th Street, NY, NY 10025 

What You’ll Do

As a Housing Specialist with HELP USA, you’ll be responsible for helping your clients find housing while achieving self-sufficiency. You are great at managing relationships and setting expectations with clients, real estate brokers, landlords, and other service providers, as well as with your colleagues. You’ll work with your clients to determine which housing programs they qualify for, guide them with their housing search, provide referrals to appropriate housing resources, and advocate for them with landlords and brokers. Additionally, you’ll coach your clients in how to conduct an apartment search, interview with a landlord for an apartment, complete housing forms, activate utilities, etc. 

Your responsibilities will include:

• Conducting the housing intake and housing assessment Interview for all new residents and completing the housing portion of the independent living plan, including making reassessments and revisions as necessary.

• Meeting with clients regularly and guiding them in their search for permanent and/or supportive housing: determining housing needs and barriers, identifying which programs they qualify for, making referrals to specific housing options, assisting with completion of applications, and ensuring that applications are submitted on a timely basis.

• Accompanying clients to view apartments and assisting with clients’ move into supportive and/or permanent housing by advocating on clients’ behalf with landlords, attending lease signings, ensuring utilities are turned on, assisting with the move out, etc.

• Keeping up-to-date on changes, additions, and cancellations to the many available housing subsidy programs, attending trainings provided by DHS and other agencies on a regular basis.

• Continuously networking and reaching out to identify and develop new housing resources with brokers and landlords.

• Actively participating in regular, interdisciplinary team case conferences so that all members of the social services team are well-informed regarding the status and requirements for each client and can provide high-quality, targeted services.

• Ensuring that all documentation related to housing is recorded in the case management system on a timely basis and in an organized and complete manner. 

• Developing and presenting housing workshops and arranging forums with outside providers to provide information on topics related to securing permanent housing as well as becoming and remaining self-sufficient.

You’re a great fit for this role if you have:

• High School Diploma or equivalent OR equivalent experience and skills.

• Experience in housing placement services is strongly preferred.

• Outstanding customer service and conflict management skills with a willingness to coordinate and cooperate as part of a multidisciplinary client service team.

• Strong communications skills, both written and oral.

• Ability to take initiative, be dependable and resourceful, and pay keen attention to detail.

• Excellent organizational skills to manage multiple priorities concurrently in a time-sensitive manner.

• High ethical standards and personal integrity to ensure compliance with requirements and policies of HELP USA, as well as regulatory agencies and funders.

• Commitment to the mission of HELP USA to help people in need of housing and to end homelessness. 

• Computer literacy with Microsoft applications is required. 

• Bilingual (Spanish/English) a plus.

• Valid US Driver’s License a plus.