Assistance Navigator - Homelessness Prevention

About Zaban Paradies Center

For more than forty years, Zaban Paradies Center (ZPC) has served as Georgia’s only emergency shelter for couples experiencing homelessness. Since 2020, ZPC has significantly expanded our services within and beyond our shelter walls, moving from a seasonal to year-round shelter and adding housing assistance programs for individuals and families facing homelessness. Having expanded our services, client base, and community impact, ZPC's mission is empowering couples, families, and individuals facing homelessness to achieve self-sufficiency .

Zaban Paradies Center is located in Midtown Atlanta at 1605 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta, GA 30309

Job: Assistance Navigator – Homelessness Prevention

ZPC is focused on providing solutions to end and prevent homelessness in coordination with a number of community partners, and the Assistance Navigator will help ZPC achieve its goals. One of Zaban Paradies Center (ZPC)’s core lines of work is our Financial Assistance programming, which includes move-in assistance and homelessness prevention support for households facing homelessness.

Our homelessness prevention work helps households remain in their homes and avoid homelessness after short-term financial crises. ZPC is partnering with Partners for HOME to assist 150 new households facing homelessness in the next year, and the Assistance Navigator is an important part of this growing team. The Assistance Navigator will work on our Atlanta Rising Prevention project, providing crisis intervention, case building and navigation, landlord/tenant negotiation, and financial assistance to households facing imminent eviction and homelessness.

Reporting to the Financial Assistance Manager, the Assistance Navigator is a primary point of contact and support for households enrolled in the Atlanta Rising Prevention project at Zaban Paradies Center and their housing providers, providing speedy resolution to evictions and preventing otherwise imminent housing loss.

Responsibilities and Expectations

1. Attends all initial assessment and enrollment meetings for new participant households for the Atlanta Rising Prevention project.

2. Assesses eligibility for program enrollment and financial assistance prior to program enrollment in coordination with Case Managers. Collects documentation to support eligibility documentation, enrollment decisions, and the case for financial support.

3. Reviews documentation of imminent housing loss and quickly determines what additional support documentation will be needed to support the case for financial assistance and meet grant guidelines, including but not limited to documentation of tenancy, eviction status, monies owed, rental history, property ownership and/or management, and payment information.

4. Upon determination of eligibility and assessment of support documentation, immediately begins supporting the household with gathering documentation from the household as well as their landlord and utility companies.

5. Works closely with each household’s assigned ZPC Case Manager to execute on the household’s case plan.

6. Resolves evictions within 72 business hours of each initial assessment and enrollment meeting.

7. Provides excellent customer service to ZPC clients, housing providers, and community partners. Exemplifies collaboration, professionalism, and respect in all interactions with ZPC team members, clients, vendors, and external partners.

8. Ensures timely response to clients, landlords, utility providers, and legal assistance partners, providing clear communication to program participants and all interested parties on the status of documentation, payments, and eviction resolution.

9. Adheres to timelines, processes, and guidance for filling upcoming available program slots, screening potential clients, and accepting new participant households in coordination with the case management team.

10. On behalf of enrolled clients, submits initial check requests for expenses that are allowable, reasonable, and in line with program intentions and participant stability plans, with the goal of resolving evictions within 72 business hours of enrollment.

• Responsible for timely completion and submission of check requests in line with program expectations, ensuring that each request is supported by required documentation.
• Responds in a timely manner to requests for revisions or additional support documentation.
• Ensures compliance with applicable program standards and budget allowances.
• Maintains tracking of each household’s budgeted expenditures and develops plans to spend down allotted funds per household responsibly

11. Delivers financial assistance payments in a timely manner to resolve evictions and past-due balances. Where helpful, also provides promissory notes to utility companies or landlords when it will support efforts to halt eviction, utility shut off, or additional incurred expenses.

12. Retrieves from landlords and utility companies verification of the elimination of debt (zero balance) and the tenant’s subsequent return to good standing.

13. Case Files

• Every client household must have a standard case file or digital file based on funder requirements, and the Assistance Navigator works with the Case Manager assigned to each household to ensure thorough documentation of initial financial assistance provision, payments made and delivered, and eviction and past-due balance resolution.
• Enters services and case notes, where required, in HMIS in a timely, accurate, and thorough manner.
• Uploads required documentation to HMIS in a timely manner.
• Works with the Financial Assistance Manager and Assistance Analyst to ensure data quality for each household meets expectations of Partners for HOME and/or other funders or Continuums of Care as applicable.
• Participates in internal and external case file and client expense audits.

14. Provide regular progress reporting for each household to Financial Assistance Manager.

15. Other duties as assigned to meet established program performance outcomes.

Work Hours and Location

The Assistance Navigator will work on site at Zaban Paradies Center as a home base 40 hours per week, with significant time spent in the field visiting clients and their housing providers in the community. The Assistance Navigator may be offered the opportunity to work from home up to one day per week if working from home aligns with departmental needs and individual responsibilities. Work will typically be performed during regular ZPC business hours on Mondays-Fridays, with occasional work on nights or weekends to meet the needs of enrolled households or the program.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will hold a Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Social Work or a related social services field, or a minimum of 3 years of relevant experience to households facing or experiencing homelessness may substitute for a degree. Strong preference will be given to candidates with case management or crisis resolution experience, candidates with experience in administering financial assistance to people facing homelessness, and candidates who demonstrate an understanding of the landscape of services to people facing homelessness, poverty, and barriers to stable housing. Candidates should demonstrate knowledge of and/or experience in providing trauma-informed services to households facing homelessness or financial distress. Familiarity with HMIS is preferred.

The Assistance Navigator must present genuine interpersonal skills, showing strength in forming and maintaining professional relationships with staff, clients, funders, and external partners. Candidates should demonstrate the ability to follow established best practices and program policies and procedures. Strong organizational and documentation skills are vital to success in this position, as are high emotional intelligence and maturity to be able to provide a high level of care to participants experiencing trauma and navigate complex relationships between landlords and tenants. Customer service experience and relationship building are valuable skills for this role. Individuals with lived experience of homelessness are encouraged to apply.

Compensation and Benefits

This position is a full-time, non-exempt salaried position. The salary range for this position is $52,000-$55,000 per year. ZPC also offers a competitive benefits and paid time off package to full-time employees, including employer-paid medical premiums at 100% of the employee-only coverage level.

Zaban Paradies Center affords equal employment opportunities and rights to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, disability, age, genetic information, or any other class or characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.