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A moral compass guides the Neighborhood Navigators' expedition across Harlem. Lenny Ortiz and Alex Brass spend the workday between Lenox and Lexington from 116th to 125th Street, building relationships with New Yorkers experiencing homelessness, addiction and mental health disorders with the ultimate goal of connecting them with housing and social services.
"It's really about meeting people where they're at [and] working at their pace," Brass said. "I try not to be pushy at all. At the same time, I want to encourage them, help give them hope. A lot of these people have dealt with very extreme trauma throughout their life, so just being there to listen to them if they want to share, because a lot of people don't have anyone to talk to. So just being that listening seems to really go a long way for them."
Neighborhood Navigators stems from the Manhattan District Attorney's $6 million investment towards nonprofit the Bridge to establish outreach programs in four focus neighborhoods staffed by "peers" with similar life experiences. The initiative will run for roughly three years and officially kicked off this past February. Ortiz and Brass started in June and make up the Harlem team.
So far, their engagement led to placement of five people into safe haven, "low-barrier" transitional housing services tailored to those "resistant" to staying in the city's general shelter system. But others have been connected to services, provided with safe-use kits and helped with obtaining Medicaid cards - as well as given compassion and companionship. In sum, the Navigators have interacted with more than 100 people.
Each case requires a personal touch. Some individuals are open to seeking housing and treatment. Others take extended efforts. And there are some people who can't be reached. But generally, breakthroughs require multiple interactions.
Last Friday, Ortiz and Brass encountered a man sleeping on the sidewalk outside the Bridge's office on the southeast corner of 125th and Lenox. The individual woke up after the Navigators checked on him and recognized him as a previous client. After a round of fist bumps, Ortiz took him to a bodega to grab a beverage. Thanks to their previous engagement, the Navigators knew that he uses crack, and handed the man the appropriate safe use kit.
As the Navigators made their way across 125th Street, they scanned for others in distress. They came across a man struggling to stand outside of the Metro North. He wasn't a previous client. The Navigators approached him and realized there wasn't much they could do. But contact was made.
Moving eastward, Brass looked out for a specific client who said he was ready for detox. The Navigators have met with him more than ten times. They initially struggled to find the client and didn't have a phone to reach him. But they eventually bumped into him. He told Brass he wasn't able to make it to detox, but expressed a strong desire to recover. He's tired. Brass was optimistic, Ortiz skeptical.
In fact, Brass generally serves as the duo's idealist. The streetwise Ortiz is the realist. While both enlisted with the Bridge as Neighborhood Navigators due to their personal experience with drug use, they boast complementary backgrounds.
Ortiz hails from the catchment area as a son of Spanish Harlem. He's a former Army veteran, who insists on standing on the right due to hearing loss sustained from military service.
"I did a lot of damage, and I hurt a lot of people, and I always want to help people," Ortiz said. "Now that I'm in a position to really give assistance, [I'm] giving back to the community where I did the most damage. When people see me in the area that knew me when I was in active addiction, they say, 'well, if he could do it, maybe I could do so.' Since they already know me, the connection's already there so I can engage with them much better."
Brass on the other hand comes from a self-admittedly "privileged" Upper West Side upbringing, where he once approached addiction and homelessness with stigma callous indifference. Two years after college, he sustained an addiction. Narcan ultimately saved his life after an overdose.
"This was last August, and after that, I started getting increasingly involved in advocacy, where I became increasingly sensitive to the suffering that was going on to the point where it was almost too much for me," Brass said. "I felt like I wasn't doing enough. Thankfully, I came across this opportunity which has created such a large amount of purpose and meaning for me."
A third Navigator will join them to round out the team, according to the program's director Rocio Santos.
Navigating a neighborhood also means constant change. Some clients don't have a method of contact and others end up losing their phones while living on the street. A recent shooting in East Harlem meant a greater police presence in the area, scattering clients the Navigators have meticulously built relationships with. Ortiz says they also need to gain the trust of local drug dealers to ensure they don't suspect competition while other harm reduction organizations like OnPoint NYC, the country's first safe injection site, also operate in the area, opening the door to collaboration.
To be clear, similar outreach is conducted through the NYC Department of Homeless Services, and also staff those with lived experiences (although it's not mandated). While $6 million is a pretty penny, the funding -- which comes from forfeiture money seized in white-collar crime convictions by the Manhattan District Attorney -- is a drop in the bucket compared to the $171 million in additional funding by the city towards street outreach and "low-barrier" shelter programs this current fiscal year.
But D.A. Alvin Bragg cannot fathom a world where there are enough mental health resources and says the Neighborhood Navigators are unique since they tie into his Court Navigators program, which similarly engage with in-need individuals at arraignment parts to holistically tackle the problem.
"This is work that we'll see the benefit of over time," said Bragg over the phone. "And it's got to complement other work in the hub we're based at...it's part of a public safety toolkit."
He adds that numbers don't tell the full story for the Navigators' work. But neither can they fully depict the extent of convictions. On the baseline, unique interactions with unique individuals and connection to services will gauge the program's success.
But what of the Navigators' own mental health? They say not taking the work is a challenge, especially since the two often go beyond work hours accompanying clients to housing court or visiting them at the hospital. The two talk about staying physically active. Brass even mentions they discussed rock-climbing together, although Ortiz isn't as fond of the suggestion. But that might not be the point. As they help others with mental health on the clock, they've kept each other grounded through their own blossoming friendship.
"We're a great team," said Ortiz. "I enjoy working with the brother."