The Yawkey Foundation has generously committed $50,000 to the Boston Public Library Fund for the creation of Peer Navigator programming at the Boston Public Library (BPL).
The Yawkey Foundation’s support enables the BPL to augment services for homeless Bostonians and expand services to branch libraries. Library leadership will soon seek to hire a Social Worker and Peer Navigators, persons who have experienced living in housing-insecurity, to perform outreach to patrons exhibiting indicators of homelessness, mental health concerns, and addiction issues. Their focus will be on relationship-building and making authentic connections with patrons while connecting them with the resources to meet their needs. The Liberty Mutual Foundation has also generously funded the Peer Navigator Pilot Program.
Similar Peer Navigator outreach programs have been launched in libraries across the country, including San Francisco, Denver, and Washington DC.