FW: Habitat - Volunteer Family Support Partners Needed!

[Andy Varyu]

-----Original Message-----
From: Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King County [mailto:mma...@habitatskc.org]
Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2014 2:08 PM
To: Andy Varyu
Subject: Habitat - Volunteer Family Support Partners Needed!

Hello,

Our Family Services Department is recruiting for Volunteer Family Support Partners. Please see description below. If this interests you please contact Donna Adair at dad...@habitatskc.org.


Family Support Partners:
Purpose
The basic goal of Family Support is to help families break the poverty cycle and become interdependent. The Support Committee seeks to welcome new families into the habitat family and to provide them with a mutual support system, educational opportunities and a support form for discussions regarding homeownership and relevant Habitat policies and procedures. The Support partner is the primary liaison between the affiliate and the homeowner families and enables the affiliate to learn more from Habitat homeowners thus constantly improve its program.
Support Partner Attributes:
• Good social skills/people skills
• Understands the difference between “doing for” and “doing with”
• Understands Sweat Equity Policies
• Understands the parameters for decisions families may and may not make regarding house design and features
• Understand the selection process and homeowner orientation procedures
• Understand mortgage and HFH closing process
• Willing to learn and participate in construction and maintenance classes
• Understand how to use Volunteer-up and assist family with scheduling sweat equity

Description of Family Support Partner Duties:
1. Attend Family Support Partner Orientation/Training
2. Maintain and respect family confidentiality, cultural, and religious differences.
3. Attend New Family Orientation. The family will receive their new family notebook, education schedule, sweat equity tracking sheet and other pertinent information at this time.
4. Set up initial meeting with the family. The meeting should focus on introductions and beginning to get to know your assigned family. Complete family questionnaire and bio with the family.
5. Get a family photo that will be used to accompany the bio.
6. Make sure the family knows when the construction safety training will be and is signed up to attend prior to working on the construction site.
7. Attend the family construction site safety meeting with your family. The purpose of this meeting is to introduce the family to construction safety and basic tool use and how to prepare for the construction site.
8. Meet with the assigned family at least once per month in person. Complete monthly report, collect sweat equity time sheets and calendars, discuss any issues the family may be experiencing, review the hours and classes to make sure family is on track, discuss any upcoming events, schedule next monthly meeting.
9. Report to the Family Services Department after meeting with family.
10. Visit the home sight with the family and become familiar with the construction progress and schedule.
11. Work with the family occasionally on the construction site (1x per month if possible).
12. Check-in with the family at least twice per month.
13. Attend workshops and trainings when possible with your family.
14. Help your family to become familiar with the community they will be living. Help put together a local resource list for the family and offer to drive with the family around the area to familiarize the family with local resources.
15. Help the families prepare for moving, find out about any current lease obligations, communicate this to family services manager. Help families with researching insurance options if needed, mailbox set-up, various utility, services, and schools in the community.
16. At monthly meetings check-in with the family on any changes of income or financial difficulties they may be experiencing.
17. Dedication planning – coordinate with the Family Services Coordinator for the timing and details of the dedication. Attend the dedication and prepare to speak at the dedication sharing about your family. Assist family in preparing for the dedication and helping the family with talking points.
18. Attend the pre-move in walk-thru with the family – help the family with familiarizing them on using their appliances, heat system, and helping them complete warranty registrations.
19. Help with planning the move, moving, and assisting the family with any arrangements they may need help with.
20. Once the family is in their home continue doing check-in at least once a month for six months up to a year. The first few weeks may be very overwhelming so frequent check-ins are helpful.
The average family support partner should plan to spend 5 to 15 hours per month with their family depending on the need of the family and the availability of the support partner. The average time commitment is between 6 months and 2 years.




Additional items to consider as a family support partner:
Language Barriers: Language barriers can be frustrating for families, family support partners, and staff. We do not want language barriers to get in the way of our family success or their comfort level with a support partner or staff. We do have language resources available through other resources such as the Red Cross Language Bank. Please let the family services department know if you are experiencing difficulty communicating because of language barriers.
We do not expect you to attend every workshop or training class but do encourage you to find out if the family would like you to attend when you are available. The same applies for working on the construction site. We know that you have a life and other responsibilities and commitments therefore; we ask that you try to share the construction site experience when you can but at least once or twice during the family’s homeownership process.
We encourage you to act as an advocate for the family and to also keep in mind that you are supporting the mission of Habitat for Humanity and therefore you will be expected to support the processes and policies of the Habitat organization by communicating with the family and the family services department when any grievances arise.