Support Worker jobs in Kitchener, ON

JOIN THE WORKING CENTRE

The Working Centre is a dynamic community-based organization organized under four key hubs

• Work and Livelihood
• St. John’s Kitchen and Outreach
• Housing and Shelter, and
• Community Tools and Enterprise

Projects range from: employment supports and financial problem solving; an integrated response to homelessness and substance use including a community kitchen hub, medical and mental health supports, street and encampment outreach; a growing network of affordable and supportive housing and shelters; community enterprise projects including cafes, a bicycle recycling shop, a computer recycling shop, a housewares and furniture thrift store.

For the past 40+ years, we have been a gathering of people who are working together intentionally and thoughtfully, responding to the work of community building, thinking creatively, involving people in the work, and keeping our work as non-bureaucratic and responsive as we can. As a living systems organization, our practices and approaches have the openness to evolve, depend on cooperation, responsiveness and hospitality, and cultivate the kind of diversity that makes us hold together as a strong web.

JOB SUMMARY

Shelter & Supportive Housing Workers support the work of our Shelter and Supportive Housing projects as we support people to navigate daily living in a community environment. Together as a team, you will support an active and engaged presence, building relationships with people and helping to maintain a welcoming space. We work to always stay alert and thoughtful, maintaining a harm reduction approach with clear boundaries that invite people into cooperation.

Housing and Shelter workers respond to the support needs of people who are street involved, often dealing with the complexities of substance use, lack of affordable housing, mental health issues, and challenges navigating complex systems. The work is highly relationship-based, always challenging and changing, and responds to the needs of the people we support.

Housing and Shelter workers are responsive, truly enjoy being with people, have a good understanding of collaboration and teamwork, and are not set on following standard routines in their work. The positions require taking a trauma informed approach and working from a philosophy of harm reduction. Attention to detail and follow-through is very important, as we navigate income supports, healthcare, housing and legal issues. We form a responsive group, collaborating strongly with other agencies and within the projects of The Working Centre.

SUMMARY OF RESPONSIBILITIES

• Hold a deep understanding of trauma-informed care and harm reduction models.
• Be able to build and maintain meaningful relationships with a wide range of individuals, putting their needs at the centre of the work, while maintaining healthy boundaries.
• Work with a team to host a 24/7 project where residents share common spaces and work to navigate the complexities of shared space.
• Host a community kitchen. Prepare and serve food and clean up the kitchen throughout the shift. Maintain public health safe food standards.
• Help clean the common areas, bathrooms and partner with people to clean their personal spaces.
• Host activities to help build community and skills for all the people participating.
• Hold a proactive approach that creates a culture of care and respect through our daily actions.
• Act as a first responder to medical emergencies to ensure wellbeing and support emergency services response.
• Support people to access community resources.
• Summarize and share your daily work with the team, ensuring that details are followed across all shifts to ensure that we are forming a web of support around people.
• Follow and hold practices with consistency and kindness across all shifts.

QUALITIES AND QUALIFICATIONS

• Ability to multi-task, deal with multiple demands, and to stay calm under pressure; determined worker who is willing to go the extra mile to meet people and project needs.
• Ability to hold consistent kindness in the face of all moments.
• 3 years proven experience with community-based work.
• Ability to balance relationship building with setting appropriate boundaries with many people who may experience profound needs.
• Welcome other points of view and ideas, recognizing and embracing different and contrary perspectives with kindness, curiosity, and encouragement.
• Work from a strength-based approach; hold awareness of risks without fear.
• Willingness to bring practical and focused skills to support people moving towards their goals
• Excellent time management skills, with the ability to perform multiple tasks and meet deadlines while maintaining quality.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

We are looking for people to work all shifts:

• Days: 7:30am-3:30pm
• Afternoons: 3:30pm-11:30pm
• Nights: 11:30pm-7:30am

We are currently interviewing for several locations.

The Working Centre has always held an equal salary policy across the organization. This position is offered at $23-$24.50/hour.

APPLICATION PROCESS

The Working Centre is a dynamic and highly responsive organization. Co-workers come from all walks of life, a variety of cultural backgrounds, and an eclectic mix of age groups. We are constantly learning and are challenged in our work. Our work is flexible, anchored in key ethical principles, always balancing needs of funders as we work hard to serve growing numbers of people. The work environment is meaningful, respectful and we do good work together.

This work is more than a job – it is about committed community work in a collaborative environment. If you think that this role would make you excited to come to work every day, we’d like to hear from you.

Email your application to working@theworkingcentre.org and include:

• A cover letter explaining your interest in this position, our organization and how your experience and skill would be a good fit.
• Your resume

We thank everyone who applies for this position. We will only reach out to people who we will invite to an interview. We do not use AI in screening applications.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $23.00-$24.50 per hour

Application question(s):

• Have you included a cover letter with your application? If not, please use this box to tell why you are interested in joining our team.

Work Location: In person