Displacement Prevention Navigator (Independent Contractor (Non-Employee)

About El Buen Samaritano
For over 35 years, El Buen Samaritano (El Buen) has been a trusted community resource for families in Central Texas. Serving more than 30,000 individuals annually through culturally relevant food access, health literacy, education, and economic mobility programming, El Buen is a welcoming space where families grow into their own power and unleash their potential.
Austin Housing (City of Austin) creates and preserves housing opportunities to stabilize communities. Austin Housing has partnered with El Buen Samaritano to implement the Displacement Prevention Navigator Program and manage recruitment, training, and support of Navigators helping residents in neighborhoods at-risk of displacement.

Opportunity Overview
El Buen seeks a community-based Independent Contractor to serve as a Displacement Prevention Navigator. The Navigator provides frontline housing stabilization support to households at risk of displacement through proactive engagement, culturally responsive intake and assessment, navigation to resources, documentation, timely triage and escalation of urgent housing risk, and structured follow-up.
This is a flexible, community-facing contract ideal for individuals with strong neighborhood ties, lived experience, or established trust in communities experiencing high displacement risk. We strongly encourage applicants who have lived in, worked in, organized in, or provided informal support within priority neighborhoods, even if their experience has not been in a formal housing or nonprofit role.
The Displacement Prevention Navigator functions as a housing-focused Community Health Worker (CHW) within El Buen’s Community Health Worker model and provides culturally and linguistically appropriate navigation, outreach, assessment, referral, and follow-up grounded in trauma-informed, person-centered practice.
This role is especially well-suited for trusted community members, peer leaders, parent leaders, promotoras, church leaders, grassroots volunteers, and others with strong relationship-based experience supporting families through housing instability, benefits access, school systems, healthcare access, or other community-based systems.

Scope
The Navigator provides housing stabilization navigation and referrals while connecting participants to El Buen and partner resources (health, food access, education, and economic supports). The Navigator works collaboratively with staff and community partners to strengthen participant outcomes and contributes to data collection and reporting aligned with program requirements.

Key Responsibilities
Housing Stabilization & Navigation: Assessment, Referrals, and Follow-Up

• Conduct culturally responsive housing stability assessments and displacement risk screening
• Provide trauma-informed, person-centered navigation that recognizes the impact of trauma and supports participant choice, dignity, and self-determination
• Provide cultural mediation and language access support, including interpretation/translation as needed, to reduce barriers and support successful system navigation
• Connect households to rental assistance, utilities assistance, home repair programs, legal aid, benefits, food access, health services, education, and workforce resources
• Provide warm referrals and structured follow-up until the case is resolved, the participant declines further contact, or the household becomes unreachable after documented attempts
• Track workflow status of applications and referrals and support households through completion whenever possible
• Document client encounters and outcomes in designated data systems

Program Coordination: Triage, Escalation, and Risk Awareness

• Follow same-day escalation protocols to the Contract Manager (or designee) for urgent housing risks, including eviction notice or filing, imminent lockout, utility disconnect notice with imminent shutoff, unsafe housing conditions posing immediate health or safety risk, domestic violence or safety concerns impacting housing stability, and heightened vulnerability requiring immediate stabilization
• Support workflow processes and escalate urgent or complex cases consistent with program protocols and supervisor guidance
• Within 24 hours of identifying urgent risk, document the risk indicator, actions taken, and recommended next steps in the designated system and notify the Contract Manager through the agreed communication channel
• Maintain organized case records consistent with program documentation standards to support compliance and audit readiness

Community Outreach & Engagement

• Lead at least one Community Resource Fair during the contract term
• Participate in outreach events in priority neighborhoods
• Build awareness of displacement prevention resources through proactive community engagement
• Represent El Buen with professionalism in community settings and support culturally grounded outreach that builds trust and reduces barriers to access
• Participate in at least two (2) outreach activities per month (event, tabling, partner meeting, canvass, or neighborhood activation), unless an alternate plan is approved by the Contract Manager based on program needs

Evaluation & Reporting

• Maintain accurate and timely documentation to support program reporting and audit readiness
• Submit monthly activity summaries (# of households/individuals served, intakes/assessments, closed-loop referrals, trends, barriers, and follow-up needs)
• Accurately collect and enter data aligned to program measures to demonstrate effectiveness and support continuous improvement
• Participate in evaluation and quality improvement activities as requested, including data integrity checks and process improvements
• Protect client confidentiality and use only El Buen-approved tools and systems

Training

• Complete required onboarding and program orientation within two weeks of contractual agreement signature
• Complete Community Health Worker (CHW) certification training if not already certified; El Buen will pay for certification
• Maintain CHW certification in good standing, including continuing education/CEUs as required by the certifying body and applicable to the contractor’s certification timeline
• Engage in CHW learning that strengthens trauma-informed, culturally grounded, and equity-based practice and supports consistent navigation quality
• Participate in ongoing learning opportunities
• El Buen will provide onboarding, program training, and support on navigation workflows, documentation expectations, referral pathways, and housing stabilization resources. Applicants do not need prior experience with every system or resource in order to be considered.

Priority Neighborhoods
Preference will be given to contractors who reside in, have lived in, or have demonstrated experience working in:

• Dove Springs (78744)
• Montopolis (78741)
• Colony Park (78724)
• Project Connect Transit Corridors

Applicants with strong cultural knowledge, family ties, long-standing community relationships, or lived experience in these neighborhoods are especially encouraged to apply.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required
• At least one (1) year of experience supporting families or community members in accessing resources, navigating systems, or resolving barriers related to housing stability, essential needs, healthcare, education, or economic wellbeing
• Certification as a Community Health Worker (CHW) OR must obtain CHW certification within six (6) months of contract start
• Demonstrated ability to engage participants with empathy and cultural responsiveness and to provide trauma-informed, person-centered support
• Experience may be gained through formal employment, community-based work, mutual aid, grassroots leadership, promotora or CHW activities, school or church-based support, caregiving coordination, or other lived and applied community experience
• Strong organizational and time-management skills; able to manage multiple cases, follow-up timelines, and documentation deadlines
• Strong documentation and organizational skills including ability to use data collection systems to track assessments, encounters, referrals, and outcomes
• Comfort learning and using data systems (e.g., Apricot, Salesforce, or similar) to track assessments, referrals, and outcomes; prior experience is helpful but not required
• Ability to work under pressure and maintain professionalism when assisting participants in crisis
• Ability to work flexible hours, including occasional evenings/weekends
• Reliable transportation to conduct outreach and attend meetings/events in priority neighborhoods
• Ability to meet program requirements related to transportation and outreach travel

Preferred

• Motivational interviewing or client-centered counseling experience
• Experience organizing or supporting community outreach events (resource fairs, tabling, canvassing, or neighborhood activations)
• Experience coordinating referrals with multiple partner agencies and documenting follow-up to resolution
• Experience in nonprofit, public health, or community-based settings
• Experience with housing stabilization, displacement prevention, eviction prevention, rental assistance, and/or benefits navigation
• Strong ties to East or Southeast Austin communities, especially Dove Springs, Montopolis, Colony Park, and nearby Project Connect corridor neighborhoods
• Experience serving diverse communities, low-income, or displacement-impacted households
• Spanish-English bilingual applicants with deep neighborhood trust, lived experience, and strong relational skills are encouraged to apply even if they do not meet every preferred qualification

Core Competencies

• Commitment to Quality: Maintains accuracy, thoroughness, and compassion in service interactions and documentation
• Client and Community Focus: Demonstrates cultural humility, empathy, and participant-centered engagement aligned with El Buen’s mission
• Professionalism and Ethical Conduct: Adheres to confidentiality, safeguarding, and accountability expectations
• Communication Skills: Communicates clearly and sensitively across cultural contexts; provides cultural mediation as needed
• Teamwork and Collaboration: Coordinates respectfully with staff and partners to support warm handoffs and shared problem-solving
• Continuous Learning and Growth: Participates in CHW training and continuing education that strengthens trauma-informed, culturally grounded practice
• Judgment, Risk Awareness, and Escalation: Identifies urgent housing risks and follows same-day escalation protocols

Contractor Terms
This is an independent contractor engagement, not an employment position. Contractors are responsible for their own taxes and benefits. Compensation will be based on an agreed hourly or monthly rate and is contingent on satisfactory completion of services and documentation.

Background check and Safeguarding certification are required.

Contract Type: Independent Contractor (Non-Employee)
Term: 12 months with potential renewal
Estimated Level of Effort: Up to 40 hours per month
Location: El Buen Samaritano headquarters and community-based outreach in priority Austin neighborhoods