Central Oregon · ages 18 to 29
Connective Peer Network navigators are young adults who host free hangouts around Central Oregon. When you're ready, they'll help you get things done, like signing up for health coverage, finding a counselor, getting food benefits or applying for housing help. They fill out the forms with you and check in afterward to see how it went.
[In your own words: why this matters to you, and what you've seen in our community. Two or three sentences.]
Montana Murphy, project lead
Central Oregon has health coverage, counseling, food benefits, housing programs and job training. A lot of young people never reach them. The forms are long, the waitlists are slow, you need an ID you don't have, or nobody calls back. After a few tries, many people stop trying.
A navigator stays with you through those steps. Research on young people who grow up with hardship finds that a stable relationship with a caring person is one of the things that helps most (Harvard Center on the Developing Child).
Belonging matters for health here too. In a survey of 1,019 Central Oregon adults, people with low community attachment were nearly 10 times as likely to report poor mental health. Young adults in that study said they find belonging mostly through school, college and LGBTQA+ communities (Community Belonging Measurement Project). That's part of why navigators start with free hangouts.
Navigators host free things people want to go to anyway, like dinner nights, bike repair and open mics. You don't need a reason or a problem to show up.
Talk to a navigator at a hangout, or text us. You can text anonymously first and share your name later, if you want to.
A short conversation about what you need right now. There's no long form, and we tell you what we write down before we write anything.
Your navigator books the appointment or fills out the application with you, and can go with you.
They check in after a week, a month and three months to see how it's going.
When something blocks you, like a missing ID or a long waitlist, we write it down and share the patterns with local agencies.
Free, open to anyone 18 to 29, and nobody asks why you're there. These are examples of what we'll host. Hangouts rotate through Bend, Redmond, La Pine, Madras and Prineville, and Warm Springs only if the community invites us.
Food, music and a table to sit at. [place]
Bring a bike, learn to fix it, take home a part if you need one. [place]
Laptops, a printer, and people who'll read your resume. [place]
Music, poems, comedy, or just come listen. [place]
Every navigator has dealt with at least one of these systems themselves, whether that's signing up for the Oregon Health Plan, replacing a lost ID or sitting on a waitlist for counseling. Ask them how it went.
[Once you have co-designers: a short story from one of them, in their words, with their permission.]
Only what we need to help with what you asked for. We tell you before we write anything, and we never put your information in a public place or an AI tool.
Your navigator and the lead navigator. A partner, like a clinic, only if you say yes, and only what they need to help you.
You can text without your name. You can ask to see what we wrote, change it, stop us sharing it, or have it deleted.
If someone is in danger, or if a child or a vulnerable adult is being hurt, navigators have to get help or make a report. We'll tell you before you share anything big, and we'll tell you if it happens.
This is a demo. Nothing you type is saved or sent, and the people and cases are made up.
Every role at Connective Peer Network is paid, including training time. If you know these systems firsthand, that counts as experience here.
Host hangouts, answer the text line, and help peers get things done. Paid training, including crisis response and a path to an Oregon peer support or community health worker certification.
Help decide how Connective Peer Network works. A few sessions a month, paid once the project is funded.
Host teen-only hangouts and do outreach with other teens. Coming in a later phase.
Interested? Email montana@socialhue.com.
Connective Peer Network is planned as a cooperative, owned by the navigators who do the work.
Project lead. I design and build the tools and coordinate the project. [a line about your background]
I'm looking for 3 to 5 people ages 18 to 29 who know these systems firsthand. Co-designers help decide how check-ins work, where outreach happens and how the site talks. The role is paid once the project is funded.
Local organizations that agree to take referrals from navigators. [partner names]
Want to be a partner? Email montana@socialhue.com.
Español: [Spanish version, written by a Spanish-speaking co-designer]