Director of Health Access & Education

Organizational Overview

Since its inception 30 years ago, HomeFront has worked to break the cycle of poverty and end homelessness in Central New Jersey, serving tens of thousands of Mercer County, New Jersey families. In the past year alone, families came to us over 50,000 times for shelter, food and life-changing assistance. Started by volunteers providing meals for families living in welfare motels in and around Trenton, HomeFront has since developed a holistic array of services for clients who are experiencing homeless, facing complex barriers to economic opportunity, or working hard to make ends meet. HomeFront’s Family Campus (HFC) is our innovative model designed to be a haven of healing and hope. The Family Campus offers a wide array of services for families experiencing homelessness and the effects of poverty including the on-site childcare, career support, vocational opportunities and job training, educational support for adults and children, physical and mental health and wellness partners, therapeutic art programming, specialized support for children, and the Family Preservation Center (FPC), providing emergency housing for families experiencing homelessness.

The HFC is designed to offer these solutions to the barriers facing HomeFront families, lessen the immediate pain of homelessness, and help break the cycle of poverty. One of HomeFront’s core beliefs is that that Personal Wellness – whether physical, mental, or emotional – is critical to ensuring thriving families. We will implement targeted initiatives to increase accessibility to health services, both physical and mental, to enhance the well-being of families and children. Our Director of Health Access & Education will be based at the HFC and is responsible for developing partnerships with healthcare providers, community providers of health education, dedicated volunteers, and managing a small team to implement and support health and wellness programming. The success of the Health & Wellness department is directly attributable to our partnerships with countless others: state and local public health entities, health care providers, community partners providing health education, and volunteers. The Director will prioritize and manage these relationships for the benefit of our participants.

Job Summary/Objective

The Director of Health Access & Education will partner with the entire HomeFront team to monitor and achieve our short- and long-term goals. They will perform duties such as identifying most critical health needs of guests at the HomeFront FPC and other HomeFront program participants, creating a comprehensive inventory of services available in our community, establishing and managing partnerships for healthcare and health education, advising HomeFront case management staff as the go-to resource on health access, and supporting participants directly as they work to connect with healthcare and navigating insurance.

Essential Job Functions/Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and supervision for 1 staff person and volunteers serving the Health & Wellness department
• Identify most critical and common health needs in our client population and develop strategies to meet unmet needs
• Identify and evaluate community-based healthcare providers and assist participants accessing a “medical home” in the community and in scheduling appointments
• Establish and manage partnerships with direct healthcare providers and community partners to provide health education
• Provide one-on-one navigation support for participants as they work to connect with healthcare, link to insurance, and partner with participants to develop plans and goals for healthcare during and beyond their time with HomeFront, and conquer the significant individual barriers to accessing healthcare including transportation and insurance
• Advise HomeFront case management staff as the go-to internal resource on access to healthcare and insurance
• Partner with all HomeFront programs to integrate healthcare supports and education into existing programming
• Facilitate workshops, group sessions, and individual learning opportunities, either directly or indirectly by managing partnerships providing the services
• Develop health-related resources and trainings for HomeFront staff and volunteers
• Partner with HomeFront’s Volunteer Coordinator to maintain long-term relationships, meaningful opportunities, and appropriate risk management and boundaries with volunteer health providers
• Partner with Executive Leadership to define HomeFront’s strategic goals and role in providing access to healthcare, including examining and advising on best practices in provision of healthcare for families experiencing homelessness
• Partner with HomeFront’s Mental Health coordination team and contribute meaningfully to HomeFront’s efforts to creating a culture of health and wellness in our programs, facilities, and with our participant families with a particular emphasis on access to healthcare and health education for families
• Attend outside agency and committee meetings that further our goal of excellent healthcare for all families living in poverty

Required Experience and Education

• Degree or certification in health science field, such as nursing or public health.
• Strong familiarity with the provision of health services for families, especially primary and prenatal care.
• Experience in program development and logistics. Experience with managing staff and/or volunteers.
• High proficiency in MS Office Suite and other common desktop computing applications.
• Valid driver’s license.

Preferred Experience and Education

Registered Nurse, Master’s in Nursing or Public Health, or other direct experience in the medical field. Bilingual (Spanish/Haitian Creole).

Physical Demands

This is largely a sedentary role, however, ability to lift files, open filing cabinets, bend and stand are necessary.

Travel

Frequent local travel to variety of HomeFront sites across Mercer County during normal work hours can be expected for the position.

Work Environment

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.

Disclaimer

This position description neither constitutes a contract of employment nor is designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Other duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or be assigned at any time with or without notice. Company may exercise its employment-at-will rights at any time.

Equal Opportunity Statement

HomeFront, Inc is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome employees and prospective employees without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, marital status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation or veteran status.