Peer Workforce Navigators: Program Spotlight March 2023

by Kate Fahey, Project Director, Peer Workforce Navigator Project

The Peer Workforce Navigator Project (PWNP) is a two-year pilot program - part of Governor Mills' Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan- run by a coalition of community-based organizations in partnership with the Maine Department of Labor. This coalition helps communities who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic make connections with education and training, apprenticeships, unemployment insurance, healthcare, public benefits, and other resources needed to get and keep a good job.

Since last summer, Peer Workforce Navigator Project has collaborated with Sea Change to host monthly online yoga classes for our team. Our Peer Workforce Navigators work so hard each day to provide support to Mainers looking to access and navigate critical government and community resources during times of transitions and stress. This work brings beauty and connection, but can also come with grief and heaviness. Recognizing the need for self-care amongst support workers, many of whom have been on the frontlines for the past few very challenging years, the Project turned to Sea Change Yoga. Partnering with Sea Change has allowed the team to designate self-care time each month, and cement our commitment to show up with and for one another and allow ourselves to breathe, move, reflect and rest. Sea Change Yoga provides us peace and restoration during class time, which we then carry outside of the classroom and into our days.  Our classes with SCY are truly a gift that keeps on giving!

The PWNP coalition includes: Food AND Medicine, Gateway Community Services Maine, Maine AFL-CIO, Maine Equal Justice and Prosperity Maine. To learn more about PWNP, visit workforcenavigator.org.