In our last blog, "Program Highlight: Jobs to Grow," we introduced you to a free educational program for up-and-coming entrepreneurs.
In addition to the entrepreneurs, the people who drive this program are the Community Navigators. Each Community Navigator supports a small group of participants to discuss goal-setting, progress, and a general check-in once a month.
The Community Navigators prepared a summary of their experience and we're excited to share them with you.
Veronica Eldredge (School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza)
"My name is Veronica Eldredge, and I am a Community Navigator at the School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza. I have five Jobs to Grow (JTG) diamantes/participants in my group. I support my participants throughout the JTG program and help them, along with our more extensive community, to access the resources available through the Sí Se Puede Collective (SSPC). I also coordinate our Mercadito food distribution at the Mexican Heritage Plaza. Over the past year and a half, I have often filled my car and delivered food directly to families who couldn't make it to our distribution due to the pandemic.
As a Community Navigator, building relationships with our community has brought me the most fulfillment. I am dedicated to our collective’s success, and it's especially exciting to think that in a few months, we will have a cohort of women who are more professionally prepared to meet their economic goals.
In my day-to-day, I communicate with my fellow super-Navigators and other community organizations, as well as coordinate Mercadito. I also have one-on-one check-ins with my participants. We meet for one hour, and we do both a personal check-in as well as take a look at their progress in the program. Between the responsibilities and stressors of daily life, I find it's a friendly practice to talk about our lives holistically and then revisit dreams, goals, and progress.
The Jobs to Grow program gives the participants a structure to advance their goals through classes, training, and the cohort model. I remind myself that the positive impact of more accessible, alternative structures can still be widespread at a small scale. During a global pandemic with much personal, political, and collective grieving, the Jobs to Grow program has provided me a new outlet for imagining systemic change and finding direction, purpose, and inspiration in each day.”
Brenda Arenas (Grail Family Services)
"My name is Brenda Arenas, and I am the Community Navigator for Grail Family Services. My group of diamantes comprises twelve participants from the Eastside Grown and ABCE programs. My responsibilities as a Navigator are to be a bridge-builder. I am working to create strong communication with the participants, support them and guide them to complete their goals. I also connect them to resources within SSPC through our "No Wrong Door Approach."
In my theory as a Navigator, I believe that when you are passionate about your work and do it with love, the only extra effort you have to put in is to learn more and more to prepare myself to do my job better. What I like most about my position is the connection I make with the participants and being able to support them. What I expect from them is that they all achieve their goals and start their business.
My day-to-day as Navigator is to prepare, contact the participants, and motivate them to attend all the workshops. During our one-on-one sessions, we talk about a plan for their goals, what they mean, and why they are essential. We also list the necessary steps to achieve the goal and achieve their goals. I describe the Jobs To Grow program as supportive and an excellent opportunity to grow. What has impacted me most about the program is seeing the motivation and interest of my diamantes, their commitment and effort to prepare themselves every day."
Maria D. Martinez (SOMOS Mayfair)
"My name is Maria D. Martinez, and I am the Community Navigator for SOMOS Mayfair. My group of diamantes is made up of eight participants. My responsibility is to support the diamantes to create their own business and connect them with any resources they need. I've had to make a great effort to adapt to the times that my diamantes can meet with me, sometimes we have had to meet as late as 8:00 pm because that is the time they have available. I love to support my community to become stronger and have a better life. I would like to achieve with my participants to finish the program and get their license to achieve their dreams of opening their businesses.
Every day is a new opportunity to enrich myself with my diamantes' wisdom. It is a unique opportunity to support the growth and empowerment of these women warriors. When I meet with my diamantes, we talk about the program's most stressful for them, what goals they have for their business, how they will achieve those goals, and what they need [from] their Navigator to support them. It is a beautiful opportunity for the five agencies in the Mayfair community to come together and continue to strengthen the community as we connect to more people in the community and the resources in our agencies. I feel stronger because I know more in-depth all the resources offered by the other organizations. Above all, it allowed me to meet new leaders who live in our beautiful community of Mayfair."
Gabriela del Real (Veggielution)
"My name is Soitza Gabriela del Real. They call me Gabby, in my work as a Community Navigator at Veggielution and the community. In my participation in the Jobs to Grow project, I enjoy sharing experiences with my group of participants of this beautiful project with incredible people full of dreams, having a chance to see their dream come true to start their own business, five ABCE and five Eastside Grown participants. I have an entire group of ten people with whom I accompany in this process in monthly sessions, and my goal is to establish a close connection with each of the participants. As a Community Navigator, I'd like to make them feel accompanied, informed, and supported on this project's journey.
I am giving the best of myself each session, focusing all my energy on achieving significant progress to help my participants. I am motivated by the idea that my participation as a Community Navigator will be the bridge to connect resources and the community. The participants make a real effort. They combine work, family, children. They invest their time to take this workshop, and they value the opportunity that this workshop offers them. I share different brainstorms, thoughts, doubts, and needs. The meetings have an objective, which is to guide them at all times what is related to opening their own business; most of the sessions are fulfilled purposes, questions are born that give a follow-up, along with listening to part of everyday life and the problems that are affecting somehow to their environment and follow up by providing the necessary resources through referrals to other organizations.
For me, Jobs to Grow is an opportunity to grow in this country, doing something that you enjoy, generating self-employment and family support, also feeling accompanied in all the moments of uncertainty that may arise in your life. I feel fortunate to be a part of this program because I am a Community Navigator, and I see myself in it when I interact with people in need. I feel proud to belong to my organization that fights every day to help our community to have a better standard of living."
Jennifer Parra (Amigos de Guadalupe)
"My name is Jennifer Parra, but everyone calls me Jenny, and I am the Community Navigator for Amigos de Guadalupe. I have four ABCE participants and four Eastside Grown participants in my Jobs to Grow cohort. Even though I have only recently started working at Amigos de Guadalupe, I love seeing the participants' enthusiasm about their businesses.
My responsibilities include ensuring that each participant is on track to achieve their goals. Through outreach programs, workshops, and information, I can help them. The critical point of my role is that they feel supported and resourced. I believe in this community, and I know how great the need for resources is. I enjoy being a resource for my participants to be successful in their businesses. I am excited to see these changes in my community and be a part of it. I hope that we can work together so that each participant can achieve the goals they have set for themselves.
The priority is for the participants to achieve the goals, and most of them have families to take care of, so their time is respected while still having enough time to talk to them and discuss their progress with the proposed goals and whether they are using all the resources such as the workshops to move forward. I am thrilled to be part of this program to help these people. I think the community is slowly getting stronger and getting educated, and having these resources is very important."
Jobs to Grow aims to provide the Mayfair community members with the tools to succeed in their prospective careers. The Community Navigators will help our participants develop business skills and offer them an opportunity to share the best version of themselves.
