The challenges of the last two year have impacted all of us. From social injustices to racial inequality and COVID, our communities are suffering. We have also seen great acts of heroism with our front-line workers who have continued to serve our communities. A common thread that has emerged is the power of resilience. At Families First, we believe that resilience is the foundation of building strong communities.
Families First views resilience through the lens of a set of assets, strategies and supports that allow a family to recover when adversity, trauma, threats, tragedy or stress hits. Resilience matters because it enables adults to model healthy behavior that increase the resilience of their children, it decreases the effects of significant adversity on children’s health and development, it can be learned through proactive experience, coping skills and strong relationships, and it can be measured.
A Navigator is an individual who provides more than case management; he/she will be the family’s long-term quarterback. He/She will oversee the needs of the client, coordinate recommended services and interventions across Families First and our partners. He/She will also provide long-term follow up and support for families, based on their care plans.
From March 2021 to October 2021, the Families First Navigator Model served 97 households and impacted the lives of 379 low-income individuals. During this time, Families First Navigators have made more than 650 community resource connections for Navigator families to receive behavioral health, basic needs, education/vocational and parenting support and increase their psychosocial resiliency. Additionally, in just 8-months, Navigator families have reported a 26% increase in average social support scores and families’ social connectedness, and 70% of individuals have showed measurable gains in their resiliency within the first 6 months of care that can last from 6 months – five years based on client needs.
We recognize the cycles of poverty are not broken by one program or service alone, so we offer a combination of services and supports with community partners, virtual services and locations throughout the state of Georgia. This holistic, comprehensive, results-driven approach results in awareness of the barriers to prevent families from achieving success and social equity, partnerships with community leaders to reduce barriers and increase advocacy for change and baseline assessment of the family to determine each member’s unique needs, care plan, check in timelines, and aftercare plan to measure improvement. Working with partners like the Westside Future Fund, Georgia Center for Opportunity, The Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia, Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, Goodwill of North Georgia, Raising Expectations and more, Families First is helping our families create a personalized approach to take their families from surviving to thriving.
Families First Navigator Care Model: A Bold New Vision to Build Resilience for Generations – YouTube
At Families First we understand the needs of ‘now’, but we want to be deliberate in helping people combat the needs of ‘tomorrow’, because these learned skills of resiliency can be passed along for generations to come and ultimately break the cycle of social stagnation and change population profiles from surviving communities to thriving communities. That is our contribution to service and social justice.
This is sponsored content.
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