Volunteer Residential Counselor - Free Room and Food

Save to Favorites

To be clear, this is NOT A PAID POSITION, but rent and food is paid for and the house is less than a 5 minute walk from the red line. The address shown is for the office and the actual location of the house will only be shared when the visits occur.

This is a live-in, ~20 hour/week position. Commitment is for one year of live-in status. An extension beyond this may be negotiated at the completion of the 12-month period.

The Wellmet Project is a unique program that operates group homes for people with mental illness. We are a transitional housing program, with a length of stay ranging from 6 months to 5 years. Our residents have a wide range of psychiatric diagnoses, but they share the common need for support, companionship, respect, and a commitment to recovery.

Counselors are on duty two nights per week (one weeknight and one weekend night) from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., and on call overnight on the evenings of their shifts (they may go to bed, and are only awoken in the case of a rare emergency). Counselors are also required to: 1. be present for weekly staff and house meetings from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday nights; 2. work with up to three residents, to help them with their individual goals (for example, finding employment, applying to school, keeping a budget, being more social, etc.); 3. perform a weekly chore; and 4. cook dinner (to be served at 6 p.m.) once every one to three weeks (as part of a cooking team of two to three people).

During an evening shift, the primary duty of counselors is to facilitate social activities with residents and foster a fun and safe environment. They are also available to residents for 15-minute check-ins, and will sometimes be asked to observe someone take their evening medications, or to administer a drug or breathalyzer test. CPR and First Aid certificate will need to be obtained if you do not already have one. We will reimburse this expense.

A Bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant experience is required. People who thrive in this role tend to have a strong sense of community, good boundaries, compassion, and good problem solving skills. This is a great environment for personal growth. We ask for a one year commitment from our live-in counselors. For more information, see www.wellmetproject.org.

If you are interested in the position, please submit your resume with a cover letter (one to two paragraphs) about your interest in this position

Resumes alone may not be viewed


Covid Precautions:
For applicants, we will do as much as we can over the phone/video call, but visits to the house will be required.
In house, we are disinfecting daily and whenever any visitors (such as contractors) are in the house. Residents of the house are not allowed to have visitors at this time. We try to keep at least 3ft between people where possible, sitting every other seat at the dinner table. Any visitors that do come must where masks at all times (unless eating if they are regular healthcare visitors). Residents are not required to wear masks unless there are visitors within the house or when answering the door. There are gloves and masks available. Everyone must wash their hands when entering the house. When residents go on visits outside of the state or are interacting with others who may have been out of state, they are required to fill out a covid evaluation to determine if they need to quarantine and/or get a covid test. We also have quarantining protocol in place since people live here and it could become an issue. So far there have been some instances of quaranting, but all tests have come back negative.