Peer Mentor

Purpose: To provide Peer Mentorship to caregivers, creating a safe and supportive space where caregivers can feel heard, understood, and empowered through shared experiences and emotional support.

Responsibilities

Call caregiver participant(s) up to once a week for a 6-month period to:

• Be a listening ear
• Provide caregiver participant(s) with encouragement, support, and acceptance
• Share relevant lived experience as it relates to caregiver participant(s) caregiving journey
• Create a non-judgmental, friendly environment with caregiver participant(s)
• Recognize when a caregiver participant may need extra support and communicate in a timely matter any concerns or issues to OCO Program Lead
• Be familiar with OCO’s mission and vision, and the programs and supports offered by OCO (training provided)
• Maintain confidentiality as per OCO’s confidentiality agreement
• Follow all policies and procedures outlined in OCO’s volunteer handbook
• Understand and accept the roles and responsibilities of the 1:1 Peer Support Program
• Successfully complete all Peer Mentor training
• Maintain regular communication with the OCO Program Lead

Qualifications

• Lived experience as a caregiver who is currently or has previously provided physical and/or emotional support to a family member, partner, friend or neighbor
• Must be located within the province of Ontario
• Must have access to a telephone with stable connection, as this program will require regular phone calls to caregivers across Ontario
• Passionate about and committed to ensuring all caregivers in Ontario feel supported and valued
• Possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Demonstrate maturity, comfort and understanding around the caregiver process, its challenges and issues
• Ability to set and maintain healthy boundaries
• Ability to read people and situations (i.e. when to talk, when to listen, when to share relevant lived experience, etc.)
• Experience working with limited supervision in situations that require critical thinking and flexibility in how and when to respond
• Be comfortable working with a wide variety of diverse people
• Have a positive, caring and non-judgmental approach to supporting others
• Be emotionally able to provide support to others
• Ability to constructively participate in discussions with caregivers of different backgrounds and experiences
• Must be over 18 years of age

Commitment: We ask all interested candidates to commit to participating in the program for a minimum of one year. We ask for a time commitment of 1-2 hours a week. As part of our screening, Peer Mentors are required to provide two references and complete a Criminal Records Check.

Support

• Orientation and training for this position will be provided
• Staff will maintain on-going supervision, support and regular 'check-ins'

Benefits

• Utilize your personal caregiving experience to support other caregivers
• Be part of a meaningful volunteer experience
• Gain training and experience in peer support skills

The Ontario Caregiver Organization invites caregivers from across Ontario to join our 1:1 Peer Support Program as a Peer Mentor. We are seeking caregivers with a wide range of lived experiences and encourage all caregivers to apply. We are particularly looking for bilingual or multilingual caregivers who speak English and French, and caregivers who have experience supporting someone with a mental health challenge or dementia.