Practitioner

Position: Practitioner, LOVE

Term: Full-time, hourly

Pay: $20/hour + health insurance, paid time off, and other benefits

Location: Atlanta, GA

Reports To: Supervisor, LOVE

Direct Reports: None

Updated: June 2, 2025

Organization Description:

Urban Alchemy hires individuals who were once incarcerated and trains them to transform people and places through love and respect. We provide services that heal communities challenged by the intersection of extreme poverty, mental illness, addiction, and homelessness. When individuals are suffering in our public spaces, Urban Alchemy offers solutions. When a neighborhood, street, or intersection earns a reputation as a place to avoid, we turn it around. Urban Alchemy staff, known as Practitioners, create a peaceful and supportive presence, helping our communities rebuild a sense of pride one person at a time. Urban Alchemy is a nonprofit organization founded in 2018. We quickly grew from a small program in San Francisco to a thriving social enterprise with over 1,300 staff. We currently operate in California, Alabama, Oregon, and Texas, and are actively expanding our national presence, with recent growth into Georgia and New Mexico. Over 95% of Urban Alchemy employees, including leadership, experienced incarceration and/or homelessness. For more information visit our website.

Position Summary:

The Practitioner is part of Urban Alchemy's Community Outreach and Engagement initiative designated as the LOVE (Leading Outreach with Valued Engagements) team. The Practitioner establishes positive relationships with community members in target areas. Community members range from residents of the area, business owners and their patrons, and members of the unhoused community. These relationships are critical to leverage effective communication and de-escalation. The Practitioner must possess highly attenuated emotional intelligence to accurately assess individuals they are responding to, understand and regulate their own emotions and triggers, and quickly develop a strategy to respond to the crisis in a calm and warm manner that deescalates the situation and results in satisfactory resolution of the presenting issue.

Position Duties and Responsibilities:

Position Specific:

• Provide culturally responsive, trauma-informed, gender-responsive, harm reduction, and person-centered mental health and substance use crisis assessment, intervention, and de-escalation.
• Engage with individuals in distress to assess the cause of their distress, determine strategies that will be useful in decreasing distress, support individuals to resolve any identified issues, de-escalate potential or existing conflicts and/or heightened emotions, and support individuals to connect to supportive services, as appropriate.
• Show competency in use of Narcan for opioid overdose reversal.
• Work collaboratively with other team members and the person in crisis to quickly assess the needs of the individual experiencing mental health crisis; and create a response plan.
• Practice self-awareness and cultural humility as member of a diverse team; be conscientious and sensitive to power and other interpersonal dynamics with team members and with members of the unhoused community.
• Ability to engage and connect with individuals in crisis, a strong ability to remain calm and attentive during crises, as well as to work through several separate crises during a single shift.
• Demonstrate a high level of resilience and self-care as part of maintaining wellness in a high crisis and first responder position.
• Know and adhere to Urban Alchemy's critical incident policies, including reporting requirements.

General:

• Will treat all Urban Alchemy guests, staff and stakeholders with compassion and respect.
• Use emotional intelligence to effectively engage and connect with others.
• Adhere to established procedures to provide a safe working environment including complying with OSHA, state, and local regulations as well as Urban Alchemy's policies.
• Attend orientation and any additional training required by Urban Alchemy or our funders.
• Must wear an Urban Alchemy uniform and ID badge.
• Must carry all required safety and communications equipment.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the direct supervisor.

Position Requirements:

Position Specific:

• Has good communication and people management skills.
• Has ability to follow instructions in a manner that demonstrates that the instructions are understood.
• Has ability and desire to come to work on time and be in proper uniform at all times.
• Has ability to learn how to do timekeeping using Paycom.
• Enjoys being a team player.
• Must be able to have a reliable source of transportation to be able to commute to alternate worksite(s).
• Has genuine and demonstrated interest in Urban Alchemy's mission, values, and model.

General:

• Must be able to work compassionately and respectfully with people from all backgrounds.
• Must be prepared to deal with challenging circumstances related to serving people struggling with poverty, mental health, addiction, and/or homelessness.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain background clearance based on Urban Alchemy's policies.
• This position requires the ability to use a smart phone or tablet to enter data.
• Lived experience with incarceration and/or homelessness strongly preferred.
• A driver's license and a good driving record are preferred.

Physical Requirements:

• Expected to work in all weather conditions.
• Ability to lift and carry 5 to 25 lbs.
• Walking: 7+ hours
• Standing: 7+ hours
• Sitting: 0 hours

Statement of Non-discrimination:

Urban Alchemy shares a special bond with society's most vulnerable because we see ourselves in their struggle. When doing our work, we recognize the humanity in those who are struggling and treat them how we once wished others had treated us. People who have been incarcerated, experienced homelessness and/or come from marginalized communities are strongly encouraged to apply because we believe they have unique skills and abilities to engage with people who are struggling. Urban Alchemy provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. Urban Alchemy prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type.

How to Apply:

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