Health Access Navigator

About Glide

GLIDE is a nationally recognized center for social justice, dedicated to fighting systemic injustices, creating pathways out of poverty and crisis, and transforming lives. Through its integrated comprehensive services, advocacy initiatives, and inclusive community, GLIDE empowers individuals, families, and children to achieve stability and to thrive. GLIDE is on the forefront of addressing some of society’s most pressing issues, including poverty, housing and homelessness, and racial and social justice. GLIDE’s mission is to create a radically inclusive, just, and loving community mobilized to alleviate suffering and break the cycles of poverty and marginalization

Position Summary

GLIDE’s Health Empowerment and Access Programs are at the forefront of innovative and collaborative approaches in San Francisco. The program’s goals are to improve our community’s wellness through linkages to medical services, collaboration with community and city providers, advocacy for underserved and marginalized individuals and engagement in recovery and health improvement activities. The Health Access Navigator provides support to individuals with a history of substance use and co-occurring disorders who are in immediate need of harm reduction supplies, health services, substance use treatment and other support. The Health Access Navigator provides supplies, health education, information, linkages, referrals and other support as needed to help clients overcome barriers, provide early interventions, and long-term services and care. Though trained cross-functionally across Health Empowerment and Access services, this position primarily supports the provision of safer use supplies, proactive counseling, referrals, and linkages to wrap-around health services at Glide’s Syringe Access Services (SAS) to people who use drugs (PWUD) and those experiencing homelessness.

• Provide harm reduction supplies, including safer sex and safer use supplies, to community members via SAS desk and other locations, as applicable.
• Promote and recruit clients for syringe access services as well as substance use treatment, HIV/Hep C/STI testing; and other social and health services.
• Provide information, education, proactive counseling, referrals and linkages to SAS participants and HEAT clients.
• Help track inventory at distribution sites and actively resupply from Glide’s storage facilities, suppliers, partner agencies, and deliveries.
• Assist SAS Program Manager with all SAS data collection and preparation of monthly reports.
• Maintain a variety of resource information handouts at distribution sites.
• Help cross train new hires and volunteers as part of their onboarding.
• Provide group education, support groups, and presentations. Will assist with preparing outreach materials.
• Provide prevention & health education including safer sex, and safer injection drug use, overdose prevention education for PWIDs (People Who Inject Drugs), distribute condoms, dams, lubrication, hygiene kits, and other harm reduction/prevention materials and supplies.
• Assist with GLIDE’s DOPE Program (Drug Overdose Prevention Education) and Narcan distribution to prevent opioid overdose and over ramping or overdose with methamphetamine and or other substances.
• Assist with coordinating community outreach activities and Special Events to promote testing, linkages to care, health and wellness, prevention education.
• Develop rapport and trust with clients, through motivational interviewing techniques, to ensure a smooth and successful transition to long-term services and their providers.
• Develop and maintain an effective network, based on collaborative efforts, with other GLIDE service providers and appropriate community service agencies, to provide comprehensive services to clients; · Document service contacts and other efforts within program database.
• Apply strength-based, client-centered approach with adherence to cultural humility and trauma-informed service and harm reduction principles.
• Attend recurring individual supervision and other administrative meetings as directed by supervisor.
• Adhere to professional boundaries and standards, including requirements of HIPAA, best practices to maintain confidentiality, and reporting requirements (e.g., child reporting, abuse, etc.).
• Meet professional obligations through efficient work habits such as: collaborating with co-workers, meeting deadlines, honoring schedules, attending, and actively participating in staff and individual meetings, supervision, and in-service training.

• Direct experience with harm reduction services (syringe access, outreach and health navigation).
• Experience providing direct social services to homeless and/or very low-income clients who are dual-diagnosed and/or have experienced involvement in the criminal justice system.
• Knowledge of violence prevention and intervention, de-escalation & harm reduction practices and motivational interviewing techniques.
• A minimum of 1-2 years harm reduction services, case management, or advocacy experience working with socially and/or economically marginalized, multiply diagnosed populations.
• Experience providing direct social services to homeless and/or very low-income clients who are dual-diagnosed and/or have experienced domestic violence, and/or have been incarcerated.
• Proficiency in spelling, grammar, writing, and basic office computer programs (Microsoft Office Suite or equivalent, data entry and web navigation) is needed to draft required documentation.
• Excellent interpersonal/communication skills; ability to maintain effective working relationships with clients.
• Experience with crisis management and ability to provide de-escalation in individual and group settings.
• · Ability to work professionally and ethically, including ability to maintain confidentiality and privacy of persons, documents, data, and communications.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently while working to meet the demands of clients.
• Ability to plan and implement outreach objectives and other programs and services; and ability to collect data and prepare reports to record efforts.
• CA Rapid HIV/HCV Testing and/or Harm Reduction certification preferred.
• Current valid California Driving License in good standing preferred.

Work Environment

GLIDE’s buildings are located in the Tenderloin neighborhood.  GLIDE maintains an "open door" policy to the community and its clients, who frequently enter and leave the building.

This role is covered by the collective bargaining agreement.