JOB: Empowerment Worker with Hope into Action Black Country Areas

Do you have a passion for church in action? Do you long for an opportunity to demonstrate God’s love in a practical way? Are you passionate about social injustice and believe that everyone should be treated with respect and value? If you are, then this might just be the career you have been looking for.

About the role
We are looking for a Church and Tenant Empowerment Worker to join the Black Country Areas team for 16 hours a week each.

You will work in partnership with local churches to support and empower tenants in our homes in the Black Country. These are tenants who have experienced homelessness, and it will be your role to support them to set and work towards personal goals and to empower them towards a fulfilled life, enabling them to move on to independent living.

Each home is partnered with a local church who provide love and friendship for the tenants. This will involve you actively engaging with the church and maintaining church interest in the Hope into Action project. The role includes training, equipping, and encouraging church volunteers in their role as mentors and befrienders to the tenants.

You will be responsible for 2 houses, with a partnered church and up to 7 tenants. As a growing charity it is likely that there will be opportunities to increase hours in the coming months.

About you

You will be a highly organised and passionate individual who has a heart for vulnerable people and a desire to see holistic change for our tenants. You will be someone with a passion for the homeless and our values, who is able to work with church leaders and church members. You will need to be able to work with tenants with support needs, including poor mental health, past offending, and drug and alcohol dependency issues. We value good listening skills. The ability to work in a flexible team and learn new skills is important as we foster working within a strong supportive team.

We love diversity and we value your unique skills, strengths, knowledge and experience. Becoming one of our team may realise your potential, helping us to raise our performance in empowering those we serve.

Please contact Merylen Pearce via phone on 07706 355264 for an informal discussion about this role

About us

We believe everyone has the right to a home and churches have the power to meet the tragedy of homelessness in their community.

We have won numerous awards, both secular and Christian, including the Guardian newspaper, Homeless link and the Centre for Social Justice.

Across our network we provide not just shelter and housing know-how, but also the friendship of a church. Together with over 100 churches, we provide direct support to people whom others have often given up on. Our first home had a real heart for men coming out of prison. Homes are now available for a wide range of people experiencing homelessness: people in recovery from addiction, people sleeping rough, women and children fleeing domestic violence, people coming out of rehab, women formerly involved in prostitution/ sex-work, refugees, those suffering mental health issues and survivors of human trafficking.

We provide not just shelter and housing but also the friendship of a church.

We are now partnering with churches across the country. We encourage others to use our model by franchising the idea. Our vision is for every church to lovingly provide the homeless with a home. The tragedy of homelessness is in every community. We believe that with our help, every church can do something about it.

To apply
Please email your application form to merylen.pearce@hopeintoaction.org.uk