Training Community Advocates

In which borough should your idea take place? Manhattan

Do you have a specific neighborhood(s) in mind?

Central Harlem

Which audience(s) does your idea help? Select as many as apply.

Youth

Unemployed individuals

Describe the challenge you want to address:

"My group discussed that there is often a disconnect between the resources that are available through existing social services and government initiatives and the individuals who would want to access them.

There are so many service providers throughout the five boroughs, but each tends to have restrictions to qualify the profile of individuals who can receive their services.

The network can be difficult to navigate without the help of an advisor or advocate to help an individual navigate the complex web of services."

Describe your idea and approach to address the challenge:

"The group decided that a good way to tackle this issue and connect communities to empowering resources would be done in two steps. First, an organizer would create a list of available resources in the borough that connect individuals to educational opportunities, employment, language acquisition groups and more.

Then local organizations would train a number of high school students at each public high school as well as key community members to navigate the system
of resources around them.

These advocates will then be empowered to be an asset to their community. They would also be compensated for their work, a portion of the funding would serve to pay each individual who takes the training and in doing so takes part in the work of bringing their community closer to the available resources.

One member of the group recommended using the same model as the Clubhouse Coalition to execute this in a communal and successful manner."

Write the zipcode that best represents your New York City community:

Virtual