Mortar-Between-The-Bricks Support

On The Rise's Community Advocates accompany individuals in the community to help them build connections, navigate services, and support their work on specific issues.

Advocates provide support and/or advocacy to participants as they begin to address the issues that led to their homeless and take steps towards their goals. Advocates draw on their relationships with each participant and their extensive knowledge of the resources in our community to facilitate their success.

We often refer to our accompaniment and advocacy work as the “mortar-between-the-bricks” because we provide the practical, emotional, and professional support (the mortar) for program participants that improves their ability to successfully find, access, and participate in specialized programs (the bricks).

Each year, our Community Advocates provide more than 1,200 occasions of support, accompaniment and advocacy out in the community with more than 150 participants. The advocates assist women and trans/nonbinary folks in addressing issues such as housing, physical and mental health, domestic violence, substance use and abuse, legal and immigration issues, employment, and education.