Peer Support Advocate

Principal Responsibilities And Duties

• Connect with and support community members experiencing emotional distress/crisis in the community and/or at a peer support center
• Provide ongoing one on one support to individuals who want peer support services
• Support community members in accessing internal and external resources to be able to navigate current and future crises
• Support the development of mutual support networks and connections
• Facilitate peer support groups as needed
• Help maintain a welcoming and inclusive environment when working in spaces designed for emotional support
• Advocate with or on behalf of individuals for their expressed interests. This may occur in emergency department or hospital settings, in multi-disciplinary team meetings, with administrators, or with external entities.

Key Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Excellent relational skills
• Strong communication skills
• Ability to see multiple perspectives
• Ability to participate in difficult or heavy conversations and be in proximity to people experiencing various kinds of distress
• Ability to be a supportive and collaborative team member
• Microsoft word, Zoom, and Slack (training provided but familiarity is helpful)

Qualifications

• Minimum Commitment to the values of mutual support, community, disability justice, anti-racism, and choice.
• Lived experience of marginalization and/or trauma that supports the ability to connect and relate to people in emotional and social crisis. This could include various kinds of trauma and marginalization, including madness, neurodivergence, institutionalization, homelessness, incarceration, family separation, loss, addiction, etc.
• Personal or professional experience supporting people in crisis.
• Preferred Training in Intentional Peer Support (IPS), restorative/transformative justice, de-escalation, group facilitation, harm reduction, or other related areas
• Experience in peer support, harm reduction, community organizing, or other related work
• Familiarity with the psychiatric survivor, mad pride, neurodivergent, harm reduction, transformative justice, and/or disability justice movements