Are you looking for an opportunity to use your mental health recovery experience to build community and empower others experiencing mental illness? At Thresholds, we believe in meeting people where they’re at – in their environment and on their journey to recovery. As a Peer Support Specialist, you will foster connection and mutual support in one of Thresholds’ New Freedom Centers. We value personal lived experiences with mental health recovery and are seeking a peer professional, who either has the CRSS (Certified Recovery Support Specialist) credential or is able to get the CRSS within a year.
Thresholds’ New Freedom Centers are operated by peer professionals 7 days a week and create community to aid Thresholds’ clients in their transition to community life after an experience with a group care setting. We offer a range of daily, drop-in activities and programming that include art groups, basic living skills, volunteer opportunities, and holiday parties.
As a Peer Support Specialist, you will welcome clients to the drop-in center and build community through a variety of activities to combat loneliness. You may make and eat lunch together, chat one-on-one, play games, or organize activities. You will teach basic living skills, practice using coping skills, connect visitors to community resources, and develop client empowerment skills through self-advocacy and stigma-busting. You will share your recovery story with our clients in a mutual, two-way helping process where you will learn from each other and model that recovery can happen.
The culture at Thresholds is compassionate and supportive, providing you with the tools and resources you need for the best client care. Opportunities for training and professional development will deepen your knowledge and expand your clinical skills in harm reduction, trauma-informed care, and other evidence-based practices. To support the CRSS credential, we offer free clinical supervision, fee reimbursement, and scholarship opportunities. This invaluable experience will set you up for a variety of career paths and growth opportunities within our organization.
To succeed in this role, you need:
- Lived and living experience with personal mental health recovery
- Passion for mental health advocacy
- Effective communication and relationship-building skills
- To be at least 21 years old
- A valid driver’s license, current car insurance, and daily access to a car
- Willingness to provide transportation to clients
- Availability to work Monday ( 8:30 AM- 5:00 PM, Tuesday ( 8:30 AM- 6:30 PM, Wednesday (8:30 AM - 5:00 PM), Thursday ( 8:30 AM - 6:30 PM, Friday ( 8:30 AM -5:00 PM), Saturdays (8:30 AM -4:00 PM and Sundays (8:30 AM - 4:00 PM)
- ON-CALL periodically
Education and experience:
- High school diploma or GED certificate required
- Active CRSS credential preferred
What sets Thresholds apart:
- Hourly rate $22.30-$25.10 Salary ( $46,384 - $52,200 )
- Additional increase with current CRSS
- Robust employee assistance program (EAP)
- Public service loan forgiveness
- Supervision for clinical licensure at no cost (CRSS, LSW, LCSW, LPC, LCPC)
- Reimbursement for professional licensure and license renewal
Thresholds is a mission-driven agency with a deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We foster an environment where all feel valued and respected, a place where every employee can be themselves, thrive, and support the agency’s mission. Click here to learn more.
One of the oldest and largest community mental health organizations in Illinois, we pride ourselves in being a Chicago Tribune Top Workplace and one of Chicago’s 101 Best & Brightest Companies to Work For, several years in a row.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.
Skills Required
- Lived and living experience with personal mental health recovery
- CRSS credential or ability to obtain CRSS within one year
- At least 21 years old
- Valid driver's license, current car insurance, and daily access to a car
- Willingness to provide transportation to clients
- Availability to work scheduled center hours including weekends and periodic on-call coverage
- Effective communication and relationship-building skills
- High school diploma or GED
- Active CRSS credential
What We Do
Established in 1959, Thresholds provides healthcare, housing, and hope for thousands of persons with mental illnesses and substance use disorders in Illinois each year. Through care, employment, advocacy, and housing, Thresholds assists and inspires people with mental illnesses to reclaim their lives. Thresholds is one of the oldest and largest providers of recovery services for persons with mental illnesses and substance use disorders in Illinois. We offer 30 innovative programs at more than 75 locations throughout Chicago, the adjacent suburbs, and four surrounding counties. Services include assertive outreach, case management, housing, employment, education, psychiatry, primary care, substance use treatment, and research. Thresholds’ staff meets people where they are – out in the community. Offering services in a community-based setting makes them more accessible and effective and lessens the social exclusion that is often present in the lives of persons living with mental illnesses and substance use conditions. This allows our staff and clients to work on skills, clinical interventions, and recovery that allows them to live independent lives in their own neighborhoods Our clients are all unique – coming from vastly different backgrounds and arriving with different needs, talents, and hopes. Each client works with our staff to set their own specific short-term goals and objectives, based on their needs, desires, and level of self-sufficiency. Recovery from mental illnesses and substance use is possible. Recovery is a process of finding and living a satisfying and meaningful life, as one defines it for oneself. We assist our clients as they work to reclaim a positive sense of self, and discover their own potential, gifts, and skills.
Why Work With Us
Thresholds employees are real-life super-heroes. Each staff member contributes to providing life-saving mental health services with heart and an unparalleled focus on recovery through innovative, evidence-based practices.
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