Youth Peer Support Worker

Foundry Surrey
Regular Full Time |  Grid 11 ($29.11 - $30.36/hour)  |  Reporting to: Peer Support Coordinator

Pacific Community Resources Society is committed to diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from people of all gender identities and expressions, persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples, and visible minorities. Persons who anticipate needing accommodations for any part of the application process may contact our HR department at hr@pcrs.ca. Personal information will be kept confidential.

Opportunity

The Youth Peer Support (YPS) Worker participates as a member of the Foundry centre team, drawing on their own lived experience. The YPS worker helps youth and young adults with enhancing their health and wellness, service navigation, and resource information and connects them with Foundry and/or community resources. The YPS worker offers peer-based mentoring and emotional support and works collaboratively with youth, their families and members of the interdisciplinary care team. An ability to support neurodiverse, gender and sexually diverse, Indigenous, racialized, rural and remote, or youth and young adults with physical disabilities as a peer would be considered an asset. This position assists with the delivery of walk-in services, offering support both on a one-on-one basis and in a group setting. The YPS worker acts as an advocate and role model, helping young people and their families recognize that with hope, recovery is possible.

Responsibilities

• Establishes a purposeful relationship with young people and supports their engagement and participation in centre services, ensuring it is a safe, welcoming and youth friendly environment.
• Provides support, guidance and mentorship for youth and their families and assists in sharing information on resources and system navigation.
• Develops, leads or co-facilitates peer services to promote skill development and mental health and substance use recovery and relapse prevention.
• Provides support to aid with reducing youth’s concerns, improve or maintain functioning and enable independence and active participation.
• Works collaboratively with team members to meet pre-established goals and objectives, facilitates recovery-based peer support meetings and activities.
• Completes and maintains related records and documentation in electronic medical records and data systems including service information, progress reports and notes, and care plans.

Qualifications

• Grade 12 plus related experience working with youth and young adults with lived experience or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience; and
• Lived experience and completion of, or willing to complete a recognized youth peer support training program upon hire. Comfortable with self-identifying and sharing insights gained from their lived experience.

Additional Assets

• Ability to establish rapport and maintain therapeutic relationships with young people and family members.
• Empathic and compassionate, with good listening skills and creative thinking and a willingness to share one’s own story to facilitate and support recovery.
• Knowledge of systemic issues and risk factors facing minority groups including LGBTQ2S+ and Indigenous youth and young adults.
• Conflict resolution and crisis intervention skills.
• High degree of self-awareness and capacity to apply appropriate boundaries and maintain confidentiality.
• Broad knowledge of social, mental health and substance use services available in the community.

About PCRS

Pacific Community Resources Society (PCRS) is a large not-for-profit agency that serves some of the most vulnerable people in our communities from Vancouver to Hope. We work with youth and vulnerable adults in the areas of education, employment, housing, substance use and mental health, and youth and family support services. We are CARF Accredited and a Certified Living Wage Employer.

We are grateful to operate on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the xʷm əθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), Qw'?ntl'en (Kwantlen), se’mya’me (Semiahmoo), sc̓əwaθən məsteyəxʷ (Tsawwassen), q̓ic̓əy (Katzie), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Coquitlam), qiqéyt (Qayqayt), máthxwi (Matsqui) and Stó:lō Nations.

Our Vision     Everyone thriving in strong, healthy communities!

Our Mission   To inspire healthy and inclusive communities through leadership and collaboration.

Our Values    Advocacy, Diversity and Inclusion, Empowerment, Service Excellence, Stewardship, Well-being

We Offer Our Staff

• Equitable Base Pay – we are a Certified Living Wage Employer
• Generous paid vacation time, personal time, sick time; additional paid time off for life events
• Additional paid holidays, ex. Easter Monday, Boxing Day *
• Extended health, prescription, dental & vision care plan, with 100% Employer-Paid Premiums*
• Disability and Life Insurance Coverage *
• Employee & Family Assistance Program including preventative health & counselling *
• Membership in the Municipal Pension Plan with generous employer contributions *
• Flexible schedules and earned time off program *
• Full-day agency orientation and extensive training, with regular ongoing performance evaluations
• In-house digital and classroom learning opportunities; staff funding for professional development *
• Opportunities to use your voice & participate in committees on policy, wellness, safety, EDI, etc.

* Eligibility will vary depending on terms and role requirements – details for this posting will be provided on request.