Housing Overdose Prevention and Peers Services Program Manager

Peers Victoria is grassroots agency that has been working with, and for, Victoria sex workers since 1995. Through direct service delivery and partnerships, Peers provides outreach, harm reduction, group education and other support services. We maintain a welcoming and accessible service environment that promotes empowerment of current and former sex workers. 

Experience and evidence have demonstrated that an in-reach model for harm reduction services, utilizing peer staff, resident peers, and allied health staff, is effective at reducing risks for individuals choosing to use alone in their homes.  This “Housing Overdose Prevention and Peer Services” model (“HOPPS” model) is a model that is not solely dependent on a fixed space, rather, it also offers a range of overdose prevention options, including episodic in person, virtual, and by telephone witnessing.   

With funding from Island Health, Peers Victoria operates three (3) HOPPS Teams in supportive housing locations. It is expected that the HOPPS Teams will continue to evolve given the need to engage in a continuous quality improvement process to ensure these services are provided in a way that minimizes harms related to substance use. As some Sites are temporary, the site assignments and hours of service may change in conversation with the funder, housing operator and other stakeholders. 

Hours of work: The position is a minimum of 28 hours per week.  Up to 35 hours per week may be worked in response to weeks where the training schedule requires this.  

Wage: The wage for this position is $34 per hour *wage is expected to go to $35 in April 2023 Benefits are available after 3 months of employment. 

 Job description: Housing-Overdose-Prevention-and-Peer-Services-Manager.pdf

Housing Support Worker 

Peers Victoria is a grassroots agency that has been working providing support services to people in the sex industry since 1995. Through direct service delivery and partnerships, Peers provides outreach, harm reduction, and drop-in services, as well as wellness workshops, housing support, and social justice leadership concerning sex workers rights, primarily in Victoria, the territory of the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations.  We maintain a welcoming environment congruent with our values of providing harm reduction, clientcentered services which contribute to social justice and draw on experiential knowledge.  

The CRD, in collaboration with Reaching Home has provided Peers Victoria with the opportunity for supplemental funding to support the unhoused and precariously housed community with shelter prevention and diversion, basic needs and eviction prevention support services.  Reaching Home is a community-based program aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness by providing direct support and funding to Designated Communities (urban centers), Indigenous communities, territorial communities, and rural and remote communities across Canada. 

Job Description: Job Posting – Housing Support Worker March 2023 (1).pdf

QomQem Coastal Connections is a grassroots Indigenous-led outreach program that developed in partnership with Peers Victoria Resources Society. We offer harm reduction and health care services to Indigenous peoples who are unhoused, precariously housed, and who may be using substances and/or alcohol.  As a team that celebrates diversity, we welcome our relatives and allies from diverse backgrounds, sexualities, genders, abilities, beliefs, and identities.  This position is posted for 35 hours per week at $30 per hour. The position is funded until March 31, 2023 with the possibility of funding renewal.

Job description link here: https://www.safersexwork.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/QomQem-Tent-Coordinator.docx