What does a shelter advocate do?
Shelter advocate responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real shelter advocate resumes:
- Enter data in HMIS and NCATrak.
- Complete necessary monthly and yearly statistics for HUD and OASAS.
- Preform regular chores and cleaning tasks to ensure the safety and cleanliness of the shelter facility.
- Perform routine chores and cleaning tasks assign by shift to ensure the safety and cleanliness of the shelter facility.
- Facilitate weekly case management sessions with all residents, focusing on HUD goals of employment, housing and self-determination.
- Record keeping, data entry into HMIS data-base, statistics, compliance to federal guidelines, chart notes, file management.
- Assist patients in securing medical coverage by screening refer patients and coordinating the application process through successful approval.
- Serve as liaison between EAC's and other departments that work with EAP members and participants.
Shelter advocate skills and personality traits
We calculated that 24% of Shelter Advocates are proficient in Crisis Intervention, Safety Planning, and Client Intake. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Interpersonal skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Shelter Advocates that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Crisis Intervention, 24%
Provide emergency crisis intervention services through 24/hour helpline, emergency shelter advocacy, and community resource referrals
- Safety Planning, 11%
Assisted crisis line callers in rural Alaskan communities with safety planning and relocation arrangements.
- Client Intake, 9%
Peer support, client intake, answering crisis line, referrals, maintaining a clean office, research.
- Mental Health, 7%
Refer callers to outside organizations, such as hospitals or mental health clinics, for ongoing mental health treatment or services.
- Cleanliness, 5%
Perform routine chores and cleaning tasks assigned by shift to ensure the safety and cleanliness of the shelter facility.
- Social Work, 4%
Worked as part of a social worker/attorney team that represented dependent children in non-delinquency proceedings pursuant to court appointment.
Common skills that a shelter advocate uses to do their job include "crisis intervention," "safety planning," and "client intake." You can find details on the most important shelter advocate responsibilities below.
Compassion. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a shelter advocate to have is compassion. Their role and responsibilities require that "social and human service assistants often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." Shelter advocates often use compassion in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "answer hotline crisis calls and connect callers to resources counsel sexual violence victims portray compassion, understanding and listening skills"
Interpersonal skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling shelter advocate duties is interpersonal skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." According to a shelter advocate resume, here's how shelter advocates can utilize interpersonal skills in their job responsibilities: "assist adults with developmental disabilities with daily tasks establish and maintain interpersonal relationships with clientele and coworkers attend trainings i.e. "
Organizational skills. shelter advocates are also known for organizational skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to shelter advocate responsibilities, because "social and human service assistants must often complete lots of paperwork and work with many different clients." A shelter advocate resume example shows how organizational skills is used in the workplace: "performed intake assessments and life skills training using organizational and interpersonal communication methodologies. "
Time-management skills. For certain shelter advocate responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "time-management skills." The day-to-day duties of a shelter advocate rely on this skill, as "social and human service assistants often work with many clients." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what shelter advocates do: "conducted performance reviews for all customer service representatives to reduce resolution time and improve customer satisfaction rates. "
Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a shelter advocate to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what shelter advocates relies on this skill, since "social and human service assistants talk with clients about the challenges in their lives and assist them in getting help." How this skill relates to shelter advocate duties can be seen in an example from a shelter advocate resume snippet: "maintained open communication with local law enforcement agencies regarding domestic violence incidents. "
Problem-solving skills. Lastly, "problem-solving skills" is an important element of what a shelter advocate does. Shelter advocate responsibilities require this skill because "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." This resume example highlights how shelter advocate duties rely on this skill: "coordinate advocacy needs, information and referral services, and crisis intervention and conflict resolution with residents. "
The three companies that hire the most shelter advocates are:
- The Spring of Tampa Bay8 shelter advocates jobs
- Catholic Community Services of Utah
7 shelter advocates jobs
- Simpson Housing LLLP6 shelter advocates jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable shelter advocate resume templates
Build a professional shelter advocate resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your shelter advocate resume.Compare different shelter advocates
Shelter advocate vs. Liaison
A liaison is a middle person responsible for collaborating different institutes, managing professional relationships to create benefiting results that would help a business' meet its goals and objectives. Duties of a liaison include facilitating communications, establishing partnership contract plans and procedures, managing conflicts, providing immediate resolution for concerns, and evaluating collaboration parameters. A liaison must be highly knowledgeable about the subject matters of the represented organization, handling inquiries, and coming up with strategic solutions to make the project successful.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, shelter advocate responsibilities require skills like "safety planning," "client intake," "cleanliness," and "crisis hotline." Meanwhile a typical liaison has skills in areas such as "patients," "customer service," "home health," and "rehabilitation." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Liaisons really shine in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $77,941. Comparatively, shelter advocates tend to make the most money in the government industry with an average salary of $38,256.On average, liaisons reach similar levels of education than shelter advocates. Liaisons are 4.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Shelter advocate vs. Resident
A resident, often known as a resident physician, is a medical doctor who just graduated from medical school and pursued the residency program for further training. Residents work with health care team members to provide direct medical care by diagnosing medical problems and devising appropriate treatment plans. Depending on their medical specialty and training, residents may assist in performing surgeries to patients but are supervised by senior residents and physicians. Residents must also have an in-depth understanding of ethical, socioeconomic, and medical-legal issues surrounding patient care.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, shelter advocate responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "safety planning," "client intake," "cleanliness," and "social work." Meanwhile, a resident has duties that require skills in areas such as "home health," "patients," "rehabilitation," and "customer service." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Residents may earn a higher salary than shelter advocates, but residents earn the most pay in the non profits industry with an average salary of $67,437. On the other hand, shelter advocates receive higher pay in the government industry, where they earn an average salary of $38,256.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Residents tend to reach similar levels of education than shelter advocates. In fact, they're 1.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Shelter advocate vs. Communication assistant
A communication assistant is responsible for publishing content and analyzing brainstorming ideas to create an engaging publication. Communication assistants' duties include posting newsletters, spreading company updates through bulletin boards or digital contents, managing the organization's press release and media coverage, monitoring social media presence, developing strategic communication procedures with the team, and researching trends. They also perform administrative tasks as needed. A communication assistant must have excellent communication skills, both in writing and speaking, especially when interacting with a large group or writing content duties.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from shelter advocate resumes include skills like "crisis intervention," "safety planning," "client intake," and "mental health," whereas a communication assistant is more likely to list skills in "customer service," "web content," "administrative tasks," and "press releases. "
Communication assistants earn the highest salary when working in the education industry, where they receive an average salary of $35,133. Comparatively, shelter advocates have the highest earning potential in the government industry, with an average salary of $38,256.communication assistants typically earn similar educational levels compared to shelter advocates. Specifically, they're 1.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Shelter advocate vs. Social work internship
Social work interns are students who chose to do their on-the-job training in the field of social work. They apply for an internship at social services facilities. They are usually assigned to do administrative or clerical activities such as sorting through files, updating records, organizing documents, and filing reports. Aside from clerical tasks, they also get exposed to program or project management by working on program-specific initiatives. They get exposed to planning, resource managing, implementing, and evaluating. They may also join their supervisors during field activities.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between shelter advocates and social work interns, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a shelter advocate might have more use for skills like "safety planning," "client intake," "cleanliness," and "crisis hotline." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of social work interns require skills like "patients," "discharge planning," "group therapy sessions," and "bio-psychosocial assessments. "
The government industry tends to pay the highest salaries for social work interns, with average annual pay of $40,948. Comparatively, the highest shelter advocate annual salary comes from the government industry.In general, social work interns hold similar degree levels compared to shelter advocates. Social work interns are 4.5% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of shelter advocate
Updated January 8, 2025











