Home Ally - Home Fire Preservation Program

About The Link: Youth and Family Supports
For more than 90 years, The Link has helped youth and families on a journey to healing, hope, and better lives. The organization is dedicated to walking alongside children, youth, and families as an inclusive community, strengthening and empowering a sense of being, pride, and purpose. With over 15 diverse programs, The Link has a community of caring staff that work together to provide support through a 24-hour crisis line, youth resource centers, emergency shelters, mobile crisis teams, specialized foster care, healing homes, job readiness supports, and Skills4Life. With a strong foundation within the community and a focus on connection, unity, and compassion, the organization provides a vital link for youth and families in the province of Manitoba.

Position Summary

The Home Ally is a front-line family-centred role within Home Fire, a Family Preservation program designed through a First Nations lens to strengthen families and support children to remain safely at home whenever possible. Reporting to the Family Preservation Manager, the Home Ally works as part of the Home Fire Family Support Team to provide practical, culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and strengths-based support to caregivers and families.

This position plays a central role in supporting families to create safe, organized, functional, and sustainable home environments that promote family wellness, stability, autonomy, and preservation. The Home Ally assists caregivers to identify household strengths and barriers, develop practical plans, establish routines, improve organization, and access supports that enhance daily family functioning.

Working collaboratively with families, community resources, and interdisciplinary team members, the Home Ally provides hands-on coaching, modelling, encouragement, and follow-up support. The role requires sound judgement, cultural humility, respectful engagement, strong boundaries, accurate documentation, and a commitment to meaningful outcomes for children, youth, caregivers, and families receiving services.

Reporting Relationships and Program Context

The Home Ally reports to the Family Preservation Manager and works collaboratively with Home Fire team members, caregivers, children, youth, and relevant community supports. The position contributes to case planning, service coordination, information sharing, and team-based decision-making while maintaining appropriate professional boundaries and confidentiality.

Home Fire is grounded in family preservation, relational practice, and culturally responsive service delivery. The program focuses on strengthening caregiving capacity, reducing risks that may contribute to family disruption, supporting safe home environments, and promoting family-led change. Services are delivered in collaboration with families and are guided by respect, dignity, self-determination, and an understanding of the historical and

ongoing impacts of colonization, intergenerational trauma, systemic barriers, and involvement with Child and Family Services.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities
Household Support, Family Capacity Building, and Direct Service

· Provide in-home support to caregivers and families participating in the Home Fire program.

· Conduct assessments of home environments and identify areas that may benefit from improved organization, structure, cleanliness, or functionality.

· Collaborate with families to develop practical and achievable plans to improve the flow, safety, and function of the household.

· Support caregivers in creating and maintaining household organization systems, including storage solutions, routines, schedules, and family responsibilities.

· Assist families in establishing household processes and routines that support daily functioning and reduce family stress.

· Develop meal plans and support families in creating sustainable weekly meal preparation routines.

· Provide coaching related to household management, budgeting for household needs, and food planning when appropriate.

· Assist with light housekeeping tasks alongside families to model and support the development of healthy household practices.

· Coordinate the removal, disposal, donation, or relocation of unnecessary household items, boxes, furniture, or clutter as appropriate.

· Identify environmental factors within the home that may impact family wellness and work collaboratively with families to address them.

· Support families in accessing community resources and services that can assist with improving household stability and family well-being.

· Develop trusting and supportive relationships with caregivers and family members.

· Work collaboratively with Home Fire team members to implement family support plans and contribute to identified goals and outcomes.

· Provide timely and accurate documentation and reporting, including activities, interventions, goals, and outcomes.

· Participate in team meetings, case discussions, and other program-related activities.

· Adhere to established documentation, confidentiality, and program standards.

· Participate in training, professional development opportunities, and compliance requirements as defined by organizational policy.

· Perform other duties as assigned.

Professional Practice, Team Collaboration, and Administration

· Maintain professional boundaries and uphold respectful, ethical, and culturally safe practice in all interactions with families, colleagues, service providers, and community partners.

· Communicate relevant observations, progress, barriers, and emerging needs to the Family Preservation Manager and Home Fire team in a timely manner.

· Contribute to case planning, safety planning, service coordination, and goal review processes as requested.

· Maintain accurate, objective, and timely records of service activities, interventions, family goals, progress, and outcomes in accordance with organizational documentation standards.

· Participate in supervision, team meetings, training, case consultation, program evaluation activities, and other duties that support effective service delivery.

Experience

· Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of the historical and ongoing impacts of colonization, residential schools, child welfare involvement, systemic barriers, and trauma on Indigenous peoples, families, and communities in Canada.

· Experience working with children, youth, caregivers, and families using strength-based, trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and relationship-based approaches.

· Experience supporting people who may be navigating poverty, housing instability, family conflict, grief and loss, mental health concerns, addictions, abuse, intergenerational trauma, or involvement with social service systems.

· Demonstrated self-awareness and reflective practice, including the ability to recognize how personal experiences, values, and biases may influence professional interactions and decision-making.

· Knowledge of building capacity using Medicine Wheel-informed wellness planning, household organization and budgeting tools and strategies, home management practices, and environmental wellness.

· Experience developing practical solutions to improve household functioning and organization using visual scheduling, behavioural activation principles, habit-stacking strategies and routine-building tools.

· Strong relationship-building and engagement skills.

· Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.

· Ability to motivate and support families in achieving household and family goals.

· Ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team.

· Strong organizational, planning, and problem-solving skills.

· Demonstrated ability to maintain accurate documentation and case records.

· Knowledge of Indigenous cultures, traditions, and community resources is considered an asset.

· Experience in home support, family support, coaching, community outreach, housing support, or related fields is considered an asset.

· Commitment to creating positive and meaningful experiences for children, youth, and families receiving services.

Education (Degree/Diploma/Certificate)

· Post-secondary education in Social Services, Family Support, Human Services, Community Development, Inner-City Studies, or a related discipline is preferred.

· An equivalent combination of education, relevant employment experience, and/or lived experience will be considered.

· Emergency First Aid and CPR Level C certification required.

· ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training), Crisis De-escalation Training, or willingness to obtain required certifications is an asset.

Core Competencies

Cultural responsiveness

· Demonstrates respect for First Nations ways of knowing, family systems, community relationships, and culturally grounded approaches to healing, wellness, and support.

Trauma-informed practice

· Understands the impacts of trauma, grief, loss, displacement, colonization, and systemic barriers on caregivers, children, youth, and family functioning.

Practical coaching and capacity building

· Supports caregivers to develop sustainable household routines, organization systems, meal planning practices, and strategies that strengthen daily family life.

Relationship-based practice

· Builds trust with families and service providers through consistency, respect, confidentiality, collaboration, and follow-through.

Communication and collaboration

· Communicates clearly and professionally in writing and verbally, and contributes effectively to family-centred and multidisciplinary planning.

Organization and accountability

· Manages competing priorities, maintains accurate records, follows timelines, and demonstrates initiative in supporting families to achieve practical goals.

Conditions of Employment

· Satisfactory Criminal Record Check with Vulnerable Sector Search, a clear Child Abuse Registry check with acceptable Prior Contact checks, and a clear Adult Abuse Registry check, all completed within the last three months.

· Travel throughout Winnipeg and Southern Manitoba is required.

· Valid Manitoba Class 5F Driver's Licence and access to a personal vehicle are preferred.

· Alternate transportation methods will be considered.

· Ability to perform light physical tasks, including lifting, moving, organizing, and sorting household items as required.

Accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities upon request. If you are contacted by The Link regarding a job opportunity, please know that you are welcome to request accommodation at any point in the process. All information received regarding accommodations will be kept confidential.

Position status: Full-Time – 80 hours biweekly

Hours of work: Varied hours, including days, evenings, and weekends. Schedule flexibility is required based on the needs of families and the program.

Union: No

Posting End Date: Open until filled
Site: The Link: Youth and Family Supports
Work Location: 175 Mayfair Avenue; in community
Salary Range: $54,080.00 - $62,400.00

To apply to this opportunity, please visit https://thelinkmb.easyapply.co/

The Link is an equal opportunity employer, Indigenous people, women, visible minorities, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. The Link is committed to developing and retaining a diverse workforce. We thank all applicants for their interest, but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

To apply to this opportunity, please visit https://thelinkmb.easyapply.co/