Housing First is an innovative approach used to support those who are multiply excluded and the hardest to reach clients. There are 7 key principles that form the basis of our approach. It focuses on finding housing first; and then addressing the issues that have contributed to an individual’s homelessness and inability to maintain accommodation.

The Housing First service aims to support each client by providing independent tenancies and intensive support. We adopt a flexible, creative and personalised approach, in order to support individuals to manage their tenancies in the community, rebuild their lives and reintegrate back into society.

In the role of Housing First Complex Needs Worker you will work office hours Monday to Friday; working with a person-centred approach to support clients in their own homes as well as in the community.

You will be responsible for managing a small caseload of clients day to day, you will be a key player in coordinating the appropriate support for each client, delivering ongoing and intensive support to help people set up their home, with the overall goal of supporting them to sustain their tenancy and achieve individual goals and aspirations.
You will develop the skills to build and maintain effective relationships with local partner agencies to support clients throughout their journey.

About you: We are looking for someone passionate about supporting complex clients to join our team, who can work with a proactive and flexible approach.
If you have good communication skills, with the ability to network and build effective relationships with a variety of people, a good understanding of the complex issues faced by homeless people and the difficulties they experience in accessing services this could be the role for you.

Previous Housing First experience is desirable but not essential.

We will provide support and supervision to help you work independently and comfortably as a lone worker to support clients and effectively manage your own caseload.

At One YMCA we are an inclusive organisation and actively promote equality of opportunity for all with the right mix of talent, skills and potential. We encourage applications from all backgrounds, communities and industries, and are committed to having a team that is made up of diverse skills, experiences and abilities.

This is a Full Time role.
Hours per week: 37.5
Working Pattern: Monday - Friday

One YMCA and its subsidiaries, the Early Childhood Partnership (ECP) and Signpost are on an exciting journey to double our impact by 2025. We are over half way through an exciting new strategy launched in the first hour of the new decade, via email where all staff and volunteers were invited to put themselves forward to apply and attend an intensive, three-day Kickstarter Event.

By the end of these three days, there was a brilliantly multi-faceted set of themes and ideas, which formed the starting point for the rest of the Mission 25 process to build on. The aim of Mission 25 is to give every staff member and volunteer the opportunity to play their part in shaping the strategy to do “more and better, together” so that we double our impact by 2025. We deliver a vast array of services across Herts, Beds and Bucks that reach over 135,000 individuals annually.

These include:

• Provision of over 700 units of accommodation for homeless people
• Move on accommodation for individuals moving onto independent living
• Housing and practical/emotional support for young asylum seekers
• Community HUBs hosting a range of activities and meeting space hire
• Childcare provision in Hertfordshire
• Family support through a network of children’s and family centres covering Hertfordshire and Bedford
• Therapeutic and non-therapeutic support for male and female victims of domestic abuse and their children
• Independent sexual violence services across Bedfordshire, Luton and Hertfordshire
• Domestic abuse perpetrator reform programmes across Bedfordshire
• Youth services offering emotional wellbeing support and youth club opportunities for 11-19 year olds alongside our National Airplay programme funded by the RAF Benevolent Fund
• A community gym where everyone can enjoy the benefits of physical exercise Our values remain at the forefront of how we operate as a charity, and it is important to us that all staff and volunteers can fully buy in to our ethos.