Community Care Navigators

Our Care Navigator Program is a new mutual aid program that was created to subvert the carceral approach of social work in the city of Atlanta. Oftentimes people in need of social services, especially those experiencing homelessness are often hesitant to engage in conventional service systems because of prior mistreatment by providers and the stigma associated with accessing services.

Mutual aid, or peer-to-peer support, has a long history of helping uplift people out of difficult situations and we have experienced its transformative effects first hand. In one year alone, we have been able to find stable or permanent housing for over a dozen people and have been able to get them on food stamps, walk them through the trial system, get their social security and disability payments, and even find jobs. 

Building on our experiences with this kind of organizing, we have come up with a 20 hour training that focuses on; developing meaningful and lasting relationships with those currently in need of peer support, assisting in getting important documents [id, birth certificate, homeless letter, disability letter], mental health first aid, identifying short & long term housing opportunities and job searches, and utilizing the existing mutual aid resources in the city to create a personalized action plans. We offer this course at no cost because we believe that there should be no barrier to accessing skills that will benefit the community.

Guiding Principles 

Autonomy & Agency 

Self-Determination 

Transparency 

Patience 

People First Language

Understanding Your Capacity 

Working from a Care Model 

Solidarity not Charity

Communication

Accessibility