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Repair & Maintenance Worker - Communitas Supportive Care Services Society

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All MCC workers are expected to exhibit a commitment to: a personal Christian faith and discipleship; active church membership; and nonviolent peacemaking.

MCC is an equal opportunity employer, committed to employment equity. MCC values diversity and invites all qualified candidates to apply.

Repair & Maintenance Worker - Communitas Supportive Care Services Society in Abbotsford, BC

Term: 
2 years
Date Opened: 
November 3, 2009
Date Required: 
June 1, 2010
Full Time Equivalent: 
1.0

 

Synopsis: 

Communitas Supportive Care Society (SCS) is a service provider, advocate and resource for persons living and dealing with mental, physical and/or emotional disabilities. This assignment involves undertaking responsibility for ongoing maintenance and repair of all Communitas SCS homes and office.

 

Qualifications: 

Experience and training in basic repair, painting, plumbing, minor electrical work.

Good team player.

Good communication and relational skills.

Ability to work without supervision.

Ability to take initiative in identifying & prioritizing repair work

Be flexible.

Satisfactory police record clearance.

Good driving record.

 

Assignment Description: 

Background:

Mission Statement:

Communitas is a service provider, advocate and resource for persons living and dealing with mental, physical and/or emotional disabilities. All human life is created in the image of God, therefore Communitas will seek to show God's love to all persons and serve them with dignity and respect.

History:

Communitas began in 1974 as a program of MCC BC with the opening of two group homes for people who have a developmental disability. From the beginning the focus has been in nurturing people toward greater independence and responsibility in a supportive Christian environment. In 1992, a separate legal society was created called MCC Supportive Care Services, which was changed in 2007 to Communitas Supportive Care Society.

Communitas operates 45 distinct support service programs throughout British Columbia. Based in Abbotsford, with the majority of its services being in the Fraser Valley, Communitas also supports people on Vancouver Island, in the Okanagon and in the Peace Region. In addition to services that support people who have developmental disabilities Communitas works with people who have mental health challenges, others who have brain injuries, and recently with seniors. Communitas programs are community based, helping people find opportunities and make meaningful contributions. The primary non-funded program relying heavily on voluntary service contributions is the day program, Choices and Connections (CAC).

Gentle teaching philosophy:

Gentle teaching is based on a psychology of human interdependence. It asks caregivers to look at themselves and their spirit of gentleness to find ways to express warmth and unconditional love toward those who are the most disenfranchised from family and community life. It views our role as critical and requires a deep commitment to personal and social change. It starts with ourselves, our warmth towards others, our willingness to give without any expectations of receiving anything in return, and our intense desire to form feelings of companionship and community with those who are the most pushed to the very edge of society.

Gentle teaching focuses on four essential feelings that need to be taught to those who are served -- safe, loved, loving, and engaged. Caregivers not only need to ensure that those whom they serve are safe, but more importantly, feel safe. Caregivers also teach human engagement. This is made up of three basic feelings: 1) it is good to be with one another; 2) it is good to do things with one another; and 3) it is good to do things for one another.

This particular assignment involves responsibility for ongoing maintenance and repair of Communitas Supportive Care Services (SCS) homes, property and office. As one undertakes projects within the various care homes, interaction and engagement with the residents of the home is strongly encouraged. The service worker will be expected to communicate clearly any work that has been done and reporting work that will require attention to one's supervisor. This service worker will be responsible to the Repair and Maintenance Supervisor.

 

Duties: 

Areas of responsibility will cover the following:

Buildings and properties

Furnishings

Vehicles - oversight of upkeep and scheduling of maintenance

Grounds - lawn care, spring rejuvenation, etc.

Office

Emergencies.

For each of the areas listed above, there is a wide range of potential involvement for the person(s) in this position.

a) Minimal on-site maintenance

  • Establishing patterns of maintenance and standards

b) Repair

  • This is a key area. Priorities for repairs will be established with the regional managers on a weekly basis

c) Construction, rebuilding

  • At times larger tasks will present themselves. The repair and maintenance department will need to determine if they can handle the work or will need to job it out.

d) Purchase, replacement

  • In consultation, and with approval, this area covers furniture, machines, vehicles.

e) Ensure property and equipment is in safe working condition.

f) Reflect Christ's unconditional love, through word and deed, in the work place, in the community and in the church.

g) Model nonviolent peacemaking in the work place, in the community and the church.

h) Participate in planned MCC service worker retreats and activities, in which personal spiritual development, prayer support, and discussion

about/modelling effective Christian service and peacemaking are central.

i) Write an annual (or semi-annual) spiritual and/or prayer reflection, geared to sharing the MCC mission and values with our supporting

Mennonite constituency.

j) Perform other assigned tasks as given by the manager.

It should be noted that at times the service worker will be on call "24 hours a day", needing to respond to any emergencies. In addition, some jobs may require a service worker to be flexible in regards to working hours (ie: cannot stop in the middle of painting a room just because it is 4:30 pm.)

 

Location Description: 

Abbotsford is a city in excess of 150,000 people. It is a city which amalgamated Clearbrook, Matsqui, Mt. Lehman and some other small communities in 1995. Abbotsford is located in the Fraser Valley, about 80 kms to the east of Vancouver, a major Canadian city. The ocean and mountains are a real scenic drawing card, but be prepared for a lot of rain!

The city has been growing rapidly in recent years with major building programs and the emergence of new businesses. It serves the community well with a full range of health and community services. Clearbrook once a strong Mennonite farming community, continues to have a strong presence of Mennonite churches, as well as other Christian denominational churches.

In the last years the community has also increasingly become multi-cultural, being host to a large Indo-Canadian community, and to a lesser degree reflecting the Afro-Canadian, Latino, European and other Asian communities.

One significant climate fact is that British Columbia receives a very significant amount of rain year round - most intensely in winter, but also significant periods in fall and spring. It can rain (drizzling, medium, heavy) for a couple of weeks in a row with heavy cloudy days (maybe even a little sun) in between. We do have very comfortable and nice summers. If you are used to a lot of sunshine, it will be a significant adjustment, because cloudy/grey skies are very much the norm -- at least between fall, winter and spring.