Certified Bilingual Housing Counselor & Resource Navigator

Job Description

Job Description

About the Community Economic Defense Project (CEDP) & CED Law 

Our Mission

We partner with low-income and working people to build economic and racial equity. We do this by confronting economic abuse and investing in community wealth. We use an ever-evolving set of legal, economic and advocacy tools to challenge and dismantle unjust systems, building quickly towards a world where all people have what they need to live and thrive. 

Our Organization

The Community Economic Defense Project (CEDP) is a Colorado-based nonprofit. Launched in 2020 as the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project, our organization was formed to keep our neighbors housed during the pandemic. Working with clients, we built a deeply integrative approach to eviction, foreclosure, and homelessness prevention that centers the legal and financial needs of housing-insecure families and uses a variety of tools to keep them housed. 

Our team now serves more than 1,000 people per month, bringing together housing lawyers, economists, data analysts, policy-experts, organizers, and technologists to serve our clients. We have served more than 68,000 low-income Coloradans across 54 counties, distributing more than $280 million in emergency assistance. We have also contributed to the passage of major legislation to prevent eviction, stop economic abuse, and make credit and life-saving medication cheaper.  CEDP’s model has been cited as a best practice by the White House and HUD in 2022-2023, think tanks like the Urban Institute, and in the media.

Building on our work to stop evictions, CEDP has further expanded its integrated services model to include disaster response, predatory towing, debt collection, benefit access & navigation, long-term rental assistance, and homelessness response. Similar to CEDP’s work on rental housing, these efforts offer a continuum of care that includes navigation and advisory services, targeted payments, legal support, and the ability to participate in advocacy. 

More about the Certified Housing Counselor/Resource Navigator position: 

We are seeking a dedicated Certified Housing Counselor/Resource Navigator to join our Durango team. Our HUD-certified program is committed to promoting housing sustainability through one-on-one client support, including budgeting, credit analysis, resource navigation, and home buyer education. 

Key responsibilities include providing assistance with eviction and foreclosure prevention, down payment loans, and helping individuals transition from homelessness into stable housing. We are looking for self-motivated candidates familiar with housing principles, such as eviction and foreclosure, who are proficient in social service CRM/CMS software. The ideal candidate will possess exceptional organizational skills, the ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, and strong communication skills to serve diverse populations. 

In this role you will:

• Housing Counseling
  • Conduct Housing & Urban Development (HUD) approved housing counseling focused on eviction prevention, homelessness, foreclosure prevention, and pre-purchase housing counseling for up to 10-15 clients at a time, depending on overall housing counseling/resource navigation caseload
  • Engage with mortgage providers, real estate agents, HOAs, landlords, and community resource referrals on behalf of CEDP clients
  • Maintain complete and up-to-date records in the Housing Counseling CMS
  • Track deadlines and manage calendars for your caseload, occasionally assist with cases from other team members and external partners
  • Participate in ongoing learning and development related to HUD housing counseling content and trainings Provide housing counseling support for the Down Payment Assistance program to include: Lead home buyer education courses and pre/post purchase counseling
  • Understand and adhere to compliance standards for the programs in which you are assigned cases from for housing counseling service
• Resource Navigation
  • Provide personalized assistance to individuals seeking resources across Colorado but specifically in Durango and surrounding areas, ensuring their needs are understood and addressed effectively
  • Research and maintain up-to-date knowledge of local, state, and federal programs related to housing and other benefits
  • Develop and maintain strong relationships with housing agencies, social service providers and community organizations. Engage in community meetings, coalitions, and community events
  • Assist individuals navigating complex systems, including online portals and paperwork, providing them with step-by-step guidance and support
  • Connect clients to legal services when applicable to support their housing situation
  • Take on projects that support the growth of the Durango area’s development which may include creating outreach templates and generating reference tools for easy use by teammates and members of adjacent teams
  • Support community members with accessing CEDP programs and services, as well as referrals to external programs when CEDP assistance is unavailable or the individual is better served by another provider.
  • Assist with community outreach and program awareness by distributing materials, maintaining local resource information, and helping community partners understand available CEDP programs and referral pathways.
  • Provide on-site support for CEDP and partner programming in Southwest Colorado, which may include workshops, outreach events, community clinics, and other in-person services.
  • Coordinate with internal CEDP teams to help community members access services across programs and facilitate document collection, referrals, and other in-person needs through the Durango office. 
    

Position Requirements: 

• This is a hybrid position that will require up to 3-5 days a week in the Durango office or at offsite events
• Bilingual in English and Spanish is required
• HUD-Approved Housing Counselor certification is required; however, candidates with a mortgage lending background may be hired provided they obtain certification within 60 days of their start date
• Experience in advocacy, customer service, social services, or law related environment
• Ability to apply prior experience to improve processes and collaboration in a startup environment that requires rapid adaptation to change with minimal supervision
• Analytical thinker with detail orientation, self-starter with ability to solve problems
• Demonstrated proficiency working with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Case Management System (CMS) databases or similar tracking and organizing technologies
• Fantastic organizational skills and ability to self-manage and prioritize a complex workload with rapidly changing demands
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines and manage high-volume caseload to achieve required case-completion goals
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Proficiency in Google Suites with a demonstrated ability to navigate various applications within different platforms
• Foster culturally responsive services by being a part of opportunities for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) conversations within team collaborations
  

Additional Details

• Candidates must reside in Colorado, ideally within the greater Durango area. The position includes competitive pay, flexible time off, benefits package (including medical, dental, vision), and 401(k).
  
• A competitive base salary of $65,000 a year for those with a valid HUD-approved Housing Counselor certification. If not certified, starting base salary is $63,364 and will move to $65,00 once certified, which must be within 60 days of employment.
  
• In addition to base salary, hybrid employees receive an additional $1,000 per year hybrid salary adjustment
  
• All employees receive a technology stipend of $720 per year.
  
• Employees who utilize two languages or more at work are eligible for a $2,000 salary differential per year added to the salary grade listed above.  Language assessment will be conducted by the organization as a requirement to receive the differential.
  
• Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis but must be received by September 25th, 2026.
  
• The estimated time to complete the recruitment process will be by October 7, 2026.
  
• As in-person work is required, all employees at CEDP & CED Law are expected to maintain current vaccination status in keeping with CDC recommendations.
  
• CEDP is an equal opportunity employer, committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status.