Lutheran Towers is a faith-based, non-profit, senior community that provides an affordable, quality home with person-centered supportive services that empowers its residents to thrive. A vision of the late Dr. Robert E. Lee, Senior Pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in the 1970's, Lutheran Towers is the only faith-based senior living facility in Midtown Atlanta, and the only one of its kind within the four-state area comprising the Southeastern Synod of the ELCA.
For 45 years, Lutheran Towers has provided safe, secure, affordable housing to over 3,000 independent living seniors and is currently the home of approximately 200 residents of different backgrounds and faiths. The average age of Lutheran Towers' residents is 75 and their median annual income is $12,600. Low-income seniors like these folks are not only vulnerable to homelessness. They often live with other risk factors such as chronic illness, less education, few material assets, and no support system. There is a critical need for safe, affordable housing for seniors that also gives them access to the services and care essential to achieving a healthy life. Cultivating an environment where our residents can successfully and happily, age in place is at the heart of what we do. Guided by this philosophy, we help to alleviate loneliness, helplessness, and boredom.
The Lutheran Towers' Board of Directors and professional staff understand the needs of seniors and, as a result, Lutheran Towers has evolved into more than just a place for seniors to live. Lutheran Towers also provides services and wellness-oriented programming that promotes physical and mental health, independent living, and community involvement. Our recreational and supportive services are offered to residents free of charge and many would not have access to or be able to afford them outside Lutheran Towers.
Lutheran Towers, a 15-story high-rise located in the heart of Midtown, offers an affordable Midtown address for seniors on a fixed income. The Towers is conveniently located near a wonderful variety of shops, restaurants, parks, theaters, museums, medical centers, and places of worship. For more information about Lutheran Towers, please visit our website at www.lutherantowers.org (http://www.lutherantowers.org)
Why work for Lutheran Towers?
Lutheran Towers offers a very generous salary and a robust benefits package, including health and dental, life, and disability insurance; paid time off; a generous retirement plan; and a great environment filled with energetic, fun, team-oriented people.
We value people who are customer service oriented, smart, passionate, and get things done in an exemplary fashion. Fit is the most important criteria for us when hiring. When we say “fit,” what does that mean to us? To “fit” at Lutheran Towers you must be:
- Passionate about Serving Others: You enjoy coming to work each day and have a positive energy that the organization can see and feel.
- Compassionate and Humble: You check your ego at the door and make a continual, concerted effort to truly appreciate and respect other's perspectives. You put yourself in other's shoes and go out of your way to ensure that all perspectives are heard and understood before decisions are taken.
- A Team Player: You're willing to jump in and help whenever and wherever needed by the team. Your goal is to find ways to provide value rather than call attention to your individual performance.
- Analytical: You love digging into data but are not prone to “analysis paralysis”! You're use data as your guide and encourage your teams and peers to do the same, effectively parsing that data to provide key insights for the team and facilitates data driven decisions.
- Someone Who Gets Things Done: Once you've analyzed the data and factored all stakeholder perspectives into your decision, you quickly work to implement the most effective solution, course correcting as you observe outcomes and learn new information. You're not afraid to roll up your sleeves, take responsibility and make things happen both as an individual contributor and as a teammate, encouraging your other team members to do the same. Once you start things, you like to finish them, not just “checking the box,” but spending the requisite time to make sure that they get done right.
- Willing to Make Mistakes and Intellectually Honest When You Do: You are not afraid to push the envelope even at the risk of making a mistake in an effort to make continuous improvements. If your decisions or efforts don't turn out as hoped, you admit the mistake, learn from it and ensure it won't be repeated in the future. Placing blame and spending time pointing fingers is not part of your DNA…learning enough to make sure we don't repeat the mistake is part of your DNA.
- Customer Centric: You have a strong empathy for the customer/Residents, wanting to deliver quality results to convert customers/Residents into raving fans for Lutheran Towers.
Job Title: Supportive Service Coordinator
Reports to: Director of Supportive Programs & Services
Job Overview: Coordinate and link residents to needed services that will assist with aging-in-place successfully. Provide information and make appropriate referrals to residents and families in all areas of case management for services delivered at Lutheran Towers.
PRIMARY DUTIES OF POSITION
1. Interview resident and/or family members to obtain social history.
2. Involve the resident/family in planning social service programs when possible.
3. Refer resident/families to appropriate social service agencies when the facility does not provide the specific services or needs required by the resident.
4. Maintain a quality working relationship with the resident's medical professionals and other health related facilities and organizations.
5. Coordinate social services activities with other departments as necessary.
6. Evaluate social and family information and assist in determining plans for social treatment.
7. Assist in obtaining resources from community social, health and welfare agencies to meet the needs of the resident.
8. Participate in facility surveys (inspections) made by authorized government agencies as necessary.
9. Ensure that all progress notes are complete, informative and descriptive of the services provided and of the resident's response to the service.
10. Develop and maintain a good working rapport with other departments within the facility to assure that daily social services activities can be performed without interruption.
11. Assist in creating and maintaining an atmosphere of warmth, personal interest and positive emphasis, as well as a calm environment throughout the facility.
12. Serve on, participate in, and attend various committees of the facility as required.
13. Assist in the development of and participate in regularly scheduled orientation and in-service training programs that relate to the social services department.
14. Develop a written plan of care (preliminary and comprehensive) for each resident that identifies the problems/needs of the resident and the goals to be accomplished for each problem/need identified.
15. Make weekly inspections of all social service functions to assure that quality control measures are continually maintained.
16. Provide individual case management services as necessary in order to make recommendations and referrals to residents and their families.
17. Conduct one-on-one visits with new resident to perform initial psychosocial assessments and discuss the Service Coordination department.
18. Develop and facilitate informational and educational programs relevant to health and wellness in the aging field, including the annual Healthy Aging Forum. Contribute to the monthly Lutheran Towers newsletter.
19. Attend training and workshops as needed to continue professional growth.
20. Develop partnerships with community agencies and services to build referral sources and resources.
21. Maintain professional relationships with healthcare professionals, including hospital personnel, home health nurses, social workers, and other facilities and professionals within the field.
22. Respond as point-of-contact for all emergency calls within the building.
23. Coordinate plans and services for residents being discharged from hospitals or rehabilitation facilities.
24. Liaise with community agencies and the resident's support system in order to connect with services and provide advocacy as needed.
25. Complete the semi-annual and annual Service Coordinator HUD report.
26. Assist with fire drills and other emergency plans.
27. Regularly input case documentation of resident issues and progress notes for individual files.
28. Work with residents and their families to age-in-place successfully through obtaining in-home resources or finding alternative living placements if necessary.
29. Prepare a monthly internal report.
30. Assist in planning, developing, organizing, implementing, and evaluating the social services programs of this facility.
31. Assist in the development, administering, and coordinating of department policies and procedures.
32. Assist in the developing and implementing policies and procedures for the identification of medically related social and emotional needs of the resident.
33. Responsible for monthly Resident Council Meetings and follow ups from the Meeting
34. Responsible for Issues of Concern for the building including logging, tracking, and follow up, and reporting results to the management team.
35. Participate in community planning related to the interests of the facility and the services and needs of the resident and family.
36. Assist residents and/or family members with the Medicaid application process
37. Responsible for the scheduling of the care plan meetings, notifying all residents and family members of the care plan meeting's date and time and documenting in the social service section of the chart.
38. Responsible for initial social service move-in note and quarterly assessments; provide visits to residents for support and socialization and document any behavior changes; document any medicine increases or decrease.
39. This list of duties is not meant to be exhaustive but rather merely examples of the type tasks that the person holding the position of Social Worker/Service Coordinator will routinely perform.
40. Other duties as assigned.
QUALIFICATIONS
1. Bachelor's Degree from an approved school of Social Work, Gerontology, or Psychology. Master's degree in Social Work or Psychology preferred.
2. Must have one year of supervised social work or related experience working directly with low- and moderate-income individuals.
3. Must demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to provide care appropriate to the age-related needs of the residents served.
4. Must possess the ability to make independent decisions when circumstances warrant.
5. Must possess the ability to deal tactfully with personnel, residents, family members, visitors, government agencies/personnel and the general public.
6. Must possess leadership ability and the willingness to work harmoniously with others.
7. Must have patience, tact, cheerful disposition, and enthusiasm.
8. Must possess the ability to seek out new methods and principles and be willing to incorporate them into existing social services.
9. Must be able to relate information concerning a resident's condition.
10. Must possess advocacy and case management skills.
11. Must demonstrate the ability and experience in assessment techniques and skills.
12. Must possess the ability and experience in assessing psychosocial needs of the elderly, the provision of social services to help meet those needs, and the skills to monitor and document the delivery of services.
13. Ability to respond to emergency situations and to make clear decisions regarding residents' health and safety in crisis situations.
14. Excellent interpersonal skills and good verbal and written communication skills.
15. Must possess knowledge of public benefits such as Social Security, SSI, Medicare, Medicaid, TANF, community resources and the requisite skills to access and/or help residents access them.
16. Computer literacy.
Our Equal Employment Opportunity Policy
It is the policy of Lutheran Towers to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, Lutheran Towers will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.