Flickr – Freeariello (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe purpose of the Navigate service is to build confidence and capacity in individuals who are experiencing homelessness. People who access Navigate are often in crisis, which can make it difficult for them to take information in, make decisions and take action. Issues such as debt, addictions and other long-term challenges may have contributed to the crisis. Navigate seeks to work on a one-to-one basis with clients to build them up to be able to engage with statutory social services. People experiencing homelessness often isolate themselves from statutory services. Communication is often cited as a barrier for people engaging with services. Navigate works with people to build a readiness to engage with other services.<\/p>\n
‘…the stress, the panic and the anxiety and the general fear that comes along with a lot of these visits [to statutory services]. They need time for that to disappear and when that does, suddenly gates open, relief comes and starting seeing a glimmer of hope. That\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to build on in all of our sessions and moving forward.’ (Navigate volunteer 1)<\/em><\/p>\nThe lived experience of volunteers is a vital way of engaging with people. The volunteers support people to navigate a perceived power imbalance between homelessness services and people who access them:<\/p>\n
‘For myself, I\u2019m still homeless, I\u2019m sleeping on a sofa but I\u2019ve got more success of getting people getting housing. ‘ (Navigate volunteer 1)<\/em> \n<\/em><\/p>\n‘…to expect someone to jump through so many hoops, it\u2019s impossible… it\u2019s certainly a perception, people fear losing control, choice, money…’ (Navigate volunteer 1)<\/em><\/p>\nVolunteers recognised how transformative it was for people affected by homelessness to share their experiences with others who had ‘been there’ and that Navigate could bridge a gap:<\/p>\n
‘There was clearly a missing link between these services and people that were too scared to open up and speak about it. So that\u2019s there where we come in… we are creating an environment of compassion, empathy, results, no judgements, no jargon… we can get to the heart of the problem before someone engages with services and that\u2019s half the battle I think.’ (Navigate volunteer 2)<\/em><\/p>\nFlickr – Liz Jones (CC BY 2.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nChoice was identified as a part of this missing link. The Navigate approach recognises the importance of empowering the person to lead their own way out of homelessness. Encouraging\u00a0choice in all their interactions with people is a key part of the process:<\/p>\n
‘…we know it has to be the person leading it… people have been given houses and they\u2019ve been pushed into the house, there\u2019s nothing in the house… There\u2019s no real choice, they didn\u2019t want the house\u2026 It\u2019s not furnished, it\u2019s not got anything in it. So they\u2019re out because they don\u2019t want to be there. So they\u2019ll go back to being homeless, they\u2019ll be in that cycle because it\u2019s not their choice to have that house in that area… [Supported by Navigate]. The person has the choice right at the beginning of their journey, they\u2019re deciding all the time.’ (GHN Development worker and ex-volunteer)<\/em><\/p>\nSharing to build trust<\/strong><\/p>\nNavigate takes an assets-based approach to supporting people. This approach is based on a belief in the skills, strengths and capacities of the individual. This helps people to open up and talk about their experiences which is seen by volunteers as a missing component between some services and people experiencing homelessness. A significant part of the approach is how peer volunteers use their own experiences of homelessness to develop trust and relationships with the people they support.<\/p>\n
‘We do a little bit of safe sharing, so we give a bit of understanding of why we\u2019re here, what\u2019s our context. Individuals identify that we\u2019re not paid and we\u2019re here because we actually had some recent or relative experience and it\u2019s changed us and how we were treated in the process. ‘(Navigate volunteer 1)<\/em><\/p>\nNavigate goes a lot further than the previous advocacy service. Volunteers can now attend appointments with people. This\u00a0can help them maintain engagement with other services.<\/p>\n
‘A lot of the housing officers, that\u2019s their struggle, they can do all the great work, they can sit with them, they spend hours and hours but as soon as they leave the door, they\u2019re blind… ‘ (Navigate volunteer 1)<\/em><\/p>\n‘You need to let these other services know that we\u2019re not here to challenge them all the time and we\u2019re not here to antagonise them. We can literally take the strain off them. ‘(Navigate volunteer 2)<\/em><\/p>\nWorking<\/strong> together<\/h3>\nThe core of Navigate\u2019s support is partnership working between volunteers and individuals, between volunteers and GHN, and between GHN and other services. The peer volunteer provides a framework within which to work with the individual. Typically this starts as advocacy, however, as the person\u2019s confidence and capacity increases, the person may begin to advocate for themselves, begin to make choices and to direct their own journey towards their specified goals. The service is flexible, not time limited. The Navigate peer volunteers appreciate that people need time to digest and reflect on the information they are given, by them as well as formal services:<\/p>\nFlickr \u2013 Thomas Hawk (CC BY-NC 2.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n‘…one of the biggest benefits of it is the time that we can spend, particularly if it\u2019s the initial, first contact. Presenting ourselves as who we are, just volunteers, we\u2019ve been there before. Quite often we\u2019re leading by showing ourselves as a person like \u2018I\u2019ve been through a rough situation, I\u2019ve used services and look where I am now it\u2019… So we can lead by example. (Navigate volunteer 1)<\/em><\/p>\nOther services also benefit from the Navigate approach. Volunteers note that people have missed fewer appointments and that they are more informed and engaged when they attend appointments. The ongoing support from Navigate, between appointments with statutory services, also reduces the strain on the services. This is due to the capacity building that goes on between meetings.<\/p>\n
‘The feedback I\u2019ve had from some services has been that they would have liked us to have been there prior to a person engaging with our service because we can have that honest conversation\u2026 They\u2019re going to get better results, the person\u2019s expectations are going to rise, the belief in themselves will rise, their confidence and resilience and capacity all rise as a result of that.’ (Navigate volunteer 2)<\/em><\/p>\nThe power of volunteering<\/h3>\n GHN has had a volunteer programme since its beginning, and Navigate is the culmination of learning which\u00a0the organisation has acquired over the last twenty years.<\/p>\nFlickr – The Tire Zoo (CC BY 2.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n‘Our funding was so restrictive that it means that we were watching people disappear and never getting back in touch with us ever again. So when we got the new funding confirmed to do the Navigate Project that was something that was built in right from the very outset. It would be something that was a bit different and tried to link up services that already exist within the Glasgow framework but don\u2019t necessarily have the links with each other to make direct referrals or to support people between services. ‘(GHN Development worker)<\/em><\/p>\nThe Navigate volunteers appreciate that every person\u2019s situation is unique and strive to be able to appropriately respond to the complexities people present. For this reason, the service is flexible, gathering evidence to inform changes. The service uses thorough, well-supported guides for all the required paperwork which is accessible and shared with the supported people to ensure transparency.\u00a0 All resources and approaches are co-produced, principally through \u2019Navigate Together\u2019 meetings every four weeks. These provide an opportunity for everyone involved to reflect together and agree\u00a0on any amendments.<\/p>\n
When rapport has been established, the service focuses on setting SMART goals with the clients, \u00a0with a view to build confidence and strengthen trust. Within relatively few weeks, those supported by the service are able to take a lead role in the peer relationship, weighing up their own choices. Having a close peer relationship gives individuals an\u00a0opportunity to reflect and inform themselves.<\/p>\n
Support for volunteers<\/h3>\n All Navigate peer volunteers are supported by a GHN link worker. A volunteer can request to do a pre- or post-client briefing meeting which are in addition to regular meetings with their link worker. Regular meetings take place\u00a0at least every six weeks. A volunteer’s first three appointments are\u00a0conducted jointly with a link worker.<\/p>\n
In addition, there is a lot of peer-to-peer support between the volunteers, both formally through meetings, and informally through the friendships, they have established. Because the role of peer volunteers is to facilitate, it is important that they maintain this focus and don’t\u00a0attempt to problem solve for clients. Their ability to facilitate is strengthened through sharing experiences and knowledge with other peers on anything from communication skills, being positive and confident, to getting the best out of other services.<\/p>\n
‘We go through a really high level of training which really breaks down our skills and really identifies what we\u2019re supposed to do.’ (Navigate volunteer 1<\/em><\/p>\nAn internal volunteer development programme has been established which explores with the volunteers what they would like to do in terms of education and employment. This builds their capacity and integrates\u00a0the asset-based approach into the service. The value of volunteering is evident in the peer volunteers\u2019 own appraisal of their role and its impact. The volunteers informing this case study describe their involvement in the service as life changing and empowering.<\/p>\n
‘It blows your mind\u2026 Helping others when you\u2019ve been through crisis is very enriching\u2026 helps you re-validate and reflect back again, take strength from things that historically would stop you leaving your front door…\u2019\u00a0 (Navigate volunteer 1)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The role of the peer-volunteer has become attractive to people who have been helped by the service. It’s a way to give back to a service which helped them. As part of the disengagement process, supported people are offered the opportunity to become peer volunteers. There is quite a high turnover of volunteers as they grow in confidence and skills and move into\u00a0employment. As one development worker commented ‘we keep losing people to jobs’.<\/p>\nFlickr – Sherri Lynn Wood (CC BY-NC 2.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nNo<\/strong> mistakes<\/h3>\nWhat underpins the approach to development at Navigate is the commitment to continuous learning and being comfortable with the unknown.\u00a0The design and direction of the support provided is an ongoing process\u00a0 which is \u2018entirely led by the experiences of the people who are actually doing the work\u2019. (GHN development worker) Change can be responsive depending on the needs of people:<\/p>\n
‘…in the very beginning it was nothing, it was an idea on a bit of paper and we\u2019ve been learning and developing… you\u2019ve had to be really comfortable with the fact that hasn\u2019t been a set answer to certain things because we\u2019re just working out\u2026 There\u2019s a really nice grey area, come and join us.’ (GHN Development worker)<\/em><\/p>\n‘…anything that needs tweaked we tweak it. Ideally then there\u2019s no lag or time delay in anything like that because we are relatively small and everything is coproduced…If one of the volunteers has an experience that leads them to think that we should do something a bit differently we discuss that as a group and if it sounds like a good idea then we do it.’ (GHN Development worker)<\/em><\/p>\nThis agility and open mindedness is highly valued by those working in the service who take pride in GHN\u2019s approach:<\/p>\n
‘\u2026 trying to adopt assets based approach, or peer based approach, or coproduction, it just takes a bit of guts. I think GHN have the guts to stand up and say that we can do this differently\u2026It\u2019s exciting and once you learn the fact that it\u2019s always constantly evolving. Once you realise that, it\u2019s quite exciting to be involved in it.’ (Navigate volunteer 2)<\/em><\/p>\n