Community Engagement Worker

Permanent, Part time Lived/living experience role, Ivanhoe
- Not for Profit, salary packaging benefits, flexibility & wellbeing support
- Collaborative, highly skilled team with career development opportunities

**About the North East Metro Mental Health & Wellbeing Connect **(NEMMHWC)**

Access Health and Community will lead the North East Metro Mental Health & Wellbeing Connect Centres, in partnership with Self Help Addiction Resource Centre (SHARC), healthAbility and Inspiro, to deliver mental health and wellbeing services for families and carers in North East Metro region of Victoria. We aspire to provide a service of hope, recovery and humanity to improve the mental health and wellbeing of families and carers within our community. Our service is codesigned, governed and led by people with lived/living experience as families or carers of people with mental health and/or substance use challenges.

**The opportunity**

The Community Engagement Worker is responsible for coordinating and developing community engagement, carer participation and capacity building activities for the North East Metro Mental Health and Wellbeing Connect service. You will help ensure family, carer, and supporter's needs and contributions are recognised and actively included in the development and design of services.

As the Community Engagement Worker you will have the opportunity to use your own lived/living experience as a family member, carer or supporter of someone with mental health and/or substance use challenges to support and lead community/carer engagement, raising the profile of and facilitating access to the North East Metro Connect services, reducing stigma and discrimination associated with carers seeking support for mental health and AOD concerns, and creating partnerships with local organisations, schools and other community members.

This role will also coordinate capacity building and community awareness events, and liaise closely with the Manager, the Lived/Living Experience Practice Lead and the Program Coordinator.

This role is critical in the development of the community profile of North East Metro Mental Health and Wellbeing Connect and in ongoing partnerships with key stakeholders. The Community Engagement Worker will also coordinate the Connect service's online presence and impact via social media and The First Stop website. This role may involve some after-hours and off-site work.

**What you will be doing**
- Engage with local service providers, carer groups, and other Connect services to develop strong working partnerships and referral pathways, as well as to plan for activities, events, educational workshops and groups, with a focus on priority stakeholders including services who work with LGBTIQA+ people, young carers, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples, and people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds.
- Ensure the Connect activities are promoted in line with health literacy and health promotion principles.
- Implement activities/programs for families, carers, supporters and the broader community which promote access to the Connect services and facilitate engagement with other relevant services.
- Assist with developing health promotion activities suitable for families, carers and supporters that promote wellbeing and opportunities for social connection and engagement.
- Liaise and align with the AccessHC Communications team to support communication and dissemination of information to the community.
- Represent North East Metro Mental Health and Wellbeing Connect and AccessHC on relevant networks and committees as required in a professional and respectful manner.
- Develop and maintain appropriate networks and resources to enable the referral of families and carers from North East Metro Mental Health and Wellbeing Connect to local health and community services.
- Provide education and information sessions to the community as required to promote North East Metro Connect services and increase access for families, carers and supporters.
- Collaborate with the Program Coordinator to coordinate and deliver community events/activities for families, carers and supporters.
- Liaise with the Lived/Living Experience Practice Lead and the Lived Experience Reference Group to develop and promote social connection and wellbeing activities for families, carers and supporters
- Engage and empower participants, clinicians and the community to better understand the family/carer/supporter perspective
- Build supportive and respectful relationships with all people engaged in the North East Metro Mental Health and Wellbeing Connect
- _**What you will bring**

Be willing to effectively, respectfully and appropriately use your lived/living experience as a family member, carer or supporter of someone with mental health and/or substance use challenges in your role.
- Tertiary qualifications in health/social sciences, community development, youth work, health promotion or a related field, w