Outreach Specialist

Organization Overview:

Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV) is a statewide nonprofit organization with a mission to end Veteran homelessness in Minnesota. MACV provides comprehensive programs in the areas of housing, employment, and legal services to support Veterans and their families throughout Minnesota who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. MACV operates a budget over $14 million annually and has a team of approximately 100 employees throughout Minnesota. The organization has office locations throughout the state, with administrative functions centralized within a headquarters office based in St. Paul.    

MACV offers a competitive benefits package that includes healthcare coverage, dental, vision, life, short-term and long-term disability insurance, generous paid time off, retirement benefits, 12 paid holidays per year, paid parental leave, paid family and medical leave, technology and wellness reimbursement programs, tuition reimbursement, continued professional development support, and more.

Position Overview:

MACV is a statewide nonprofit agency with the mission of Ending Veteran Homelessness in Minnesota. The Outreach Specialist position is designed to provide outreach and engagement services with veterans and their families experiencing homelessness. The position will assist with goal planning in support of housing stability by conducting client assessments and establish reliable communication methods that will aid in referrals to supportive services and advance housing goals. The Outreach Specialist should understand and maintain a knowledge base of the ever-growing resources available to the unhoused community and will assist and provide clients with the resources, guides, and information about accessing services and other benefits unique to the unhoused population through outreach opportunities within the community.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

• Attend Homeless Veteran Registry meetings and coordinate with community partners to identify and connect with hard-to-reach veterans throughout the 7-county metro area.  
• Manage Outreach cases that prioritizes unsheltered veterans/households while collaborating with MACV Housing Stability and Residential Housing Case Managers to advance housing goals.
• Conduct ongoing evaluations of the participant’s progress through motivational coaching, planning, reassessment, and adjustments to plan to advancing housing goals.
• Provide basic need items to unsheltered veterans/households including water, snacks, weather appropriate clothing, socks, food etc.
• Build and sustain rapport with clients through consistent engagement and communication.
• Provide detailed case notes, upload documentation, and enter client information into Salesforce, MACV’s client management/tracking system, and the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affair’s Homeless Veteran Registry.
• Provide input in supervisory, case conferencing, and other meetings as directed.
• Connecting participants to necessary services by coordinating with external service providers to ensure access, eligibility and follow-through by participant and provider.
• Maintain strong working relationships with community agencies to provide comprehensive services for participants and to stay abreast of current trends and resources available.
• Create and maintain a schedule of rotating locations for community interactions.
• Understand MACV services and program eligibility requirements in order to submit financial support actions and direct assistance to veterans that are in compliance with grant providers. 

Key Skills and other Characteristics:

• Strong communication skills to communicate directly with Veterans and community providers
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work under tight timeline toward crisis resolution for Veterans seeking assistance in crisis situations
• Experience and capacity with managing information within a comprehensive client record management system
• Willingness to meet veterans where they are at including shelters, encampments, and other community locations. May require occasional non-traditional hours to accomodate veteran's schedules. 

Preferred Experience:

• College degree or equivalent work experience in relevant field (social work, human services) preferred.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills along with strict attention to detail.
• Experience working with individuals who are homeless, chemically dependent or have a mental illness desired.
• Good presentation skills to small groups.
• Works well on a team but can function independently.
• Veteran, or knowledge of Veteran issues, preferred.
• Knowledge of client tracking systems and database background.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel.