Site Description
The Welcome House is a temporary shelter for women and children that serves the homeless in Northern Kentucky in an effort to help them regain stability. Families are provided with meals and items to fulfill basic needs. With the understanding that these families have needs that differ according to their specific situations, Welcome House provides a number of programs to help them, including emergency assistance, basic agency training, a referral program, and a case management program designed to help the women obtain an income and find permanent housing. The staff members also give seminars on various topics including depression, employment, stress management, etc. The UHP intern develops seminars and weekly programs and provides additional organizational assistance as needed.
Job Description
- Gain an appreciation for the causes of homelessness and the challenges homeless women face.
- Acquire an understanding of the difficulties that underserved populations face in accessing health care and of the resources available to the underserved.
- Observe the intake process for families entering the shelter.
- Learn the daily operations of the shelter by shadowing shelter staff.
- Shadow the advocate on duty or work independently to research and prepare activities for the women and children.
- Be involved in addressing health-related resident issues during staff meetings or through direct assistance during the resident referral and follow-up processes.
- Interview the women to identify health issues of interest and then research these topics.
- Lead regular educational groups on health-related topics for residents.
- Assist with activities for the children, such as craft night, to allow parents time to complete tasks or relieve stress.
- Work a flexible schedule with evening hours.
- Hours will be set based on the needs of the shelter and activities/meetings already scheduled. However, educational groups and activities with children will usually occur during the evening hours.