Recovery Coach, Full-time

George Spady Society

The George Spady Society is recognized as a leader in the development and delivery of effective services for the care, treatment, and support of individuals with substance-related disorders and dual diagnoses. People who come to us find dignity, hope and healing as they set a new path towards health and well-being. George Spady Society provides a continuum of support services supporting people with complex life circumstances associated with substance-related and concurrent disorders and homelessness, empowering them to improve their lives through client-centered, evidence-based best practices.

Description of Duties and Responsibilities

The Recovery Coach position is to provide people who use the Supervised Consumption Service with wellness support. The client group will benefit from staff who understand and can use lived experience in providing mental health and addiction supports. A Recovery Coach models the core principles of peer support to facilitate learning, self-determination, wellbeing, change, and autonomy in others with similar experiences.

This position is ideal for Social Workers who have learned and gained self-awareness and resilience from their own lived experience with mental health and substance addiction and who aspire to support others with similar experiences.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide basic emergency first aid with referrals and warm hand offs to other medical services as appropriate.
• Connect individuals with Medical Detox and assist with triage process.
• Orient and motivate clients to access appropriate mental health, physical health, substance use, life skill, and other supportive daily functioning services.
• Refer clients to and support their engagement with relevant service specialists.
• Develop and maintain a network of community service providers in the fields of housing, health, mental health, and substance use.
• Provide follow-up to services and care.
• Develop and facilitate opportunities for group and individual peer-based community integration.
• Research and participate in relevant training opportunities including overdose response and education.
• Support needle clean-up and disposal at site
• Be an active member in the Good Neighbor initiative.
• Assist with Supervised Consumption Service staff coverage.
• Work within a team-based model to optimize skills of all staff members and facilitate the best possible care.
• Provide specialized expertise and service supports to clients within the GSS Centre programs.
• Assist in the development and preparation of team resources and materials.

Position Requirements

• A certificate in the Recovery Coach Program or willingness to work towards certification
• Current Basic Cardiac Life Support - Health Care Provider (BCLS-HCP) certification.
• Personal experience with recovery from mental health and/or addictions and willing to sensitively share that experience when appropriate.
• Current driver's license and own vehicle with 2 million liability coverage for transporting clients.

Supportive experience working with vulnerable populations as reflected in attitudes and actions that include:

• Understands that drug use is complex and multifaceted.
• Non-judgmental and non-coercive attitude.
• Advocates for people who use drugs or have a history of drug use to have a voice in creating programs and policies designed to serve them.
• Affirms that people who use drugs are, themselves, the primary agents of reducing harms from their drug use.
• Recognizes that poverty, class, racism, social isolation, trauma, sex-based discrimination, and other socioeconomic inequalities may increase an individual's vulnerability to drug use while, simultaneously, reducing their capacity to effectively deal with drug-related harm.
• Understands the harm reduction spectrum of strategies including safer and managed use, abstinence, meeting people who use drugs as they wish to be met.

George Spady Society thanks all applicants for their interest, only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

Equal Opportunity Employer: George Spady Society is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and recognizes that a diverse team benefits and enriches our work and is essential to our operational excellence. We welcome applications from all qualified individuals and encourage women, members of racialized communities, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, and persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity to confidentially self-identify at time of application should you wish to. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: From $51,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Casual dress
• Dental care
• Disability insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Extended health care
• Life insurance
• On-site parking
• Paid time off
• RRSP match
• Vision care

Application question(s):

• Do you have an understanding of the addictions and mental health field?
• Are you supportive of Harm Reduction principles and strategies?
• Do you have 2 million vehicle liability coverage for transporting clients?

Education:

• Secondary School (preferred)

Licence/Certification:

• Driver's Licence (required)
• Current Police with Vulnerable Sector Check (required)
• First Aid CPR AED Certificate (required)
• Recovery Coach Certification (preferred)

Work Location: In person