The Compeer volunteer can be life-changing. We match volunteers with clients of all ages and backgrounds.
Compeer has trained over 5,000 people in WNY in Mental Health First Aid since 2014.
Your contribution allows Compeer to match more clients and provide needed training for our community.
The Compeer volunteer can be life-changing. We match volunteers with clients of all ages and backgrounds.
Compeer has trained over 5,000 people in WNY in Mental Health First Aid since 2014.
Your contribution allows Compeer to match more clients and provide needed training for our community.
We believe that the healing power of friendship – of just one caring friend – is life changing for an individual striving for mental wellness. With your help, Compeer provides good mental health through meaningful relationships.
A walk in the park. Playing a video game. Just checking in to say hello. When you volunteer with Compeer, you can be doing any number of things on a given encounter with your Compeer friend. You do what comes most natural for you. The most important quality of a Compeer volunteer? Being a friend. If you believe that you can be a friend to someone, then you have what it takes to be a volunteer. And we would love to have you join today.
I was looking for an opportunity, and I loved the simplicity of the mission – promoting good mental health through meaningful friendships. I may not have a lot of special skills, but I know how to be a friend.
Headquartered in Buffalo, Compeer was founded in 1973 in Rochester, N.Y., with just 12 volunteers at its start-up. Today, on average, 4,000 volunteers in Compeer locations around the world serve people with mental illness or emotional challenges.
The National Institute of Mental Health chose Compeer as a model program in 1982 and funded the development of similar programs throughout the nation. Today, Compeer is a model mental health organization with 50 locations in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
One in five people in the United States live with a mental health condition. At Compeer we help facilitate positive mental health through meaningful friendships. This can take many forms – from one-to-one mentoring to group activities. Or from Mental Health First Aid to school-based learning. Our community is a better place when positive mental health is a priority.
Of youth (6-17) live with a mental health condition 1
Lost workdays each year due to depression 2
The cost of untreated mental illness in the US each year, mostly due to lost productivity 1
Sources:
1 National Alliance on Mental Illness
2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Compeer is an ally with the BIPOC community. While we know we are not experts, we are learning. We ask that you join us as we do our part to dismantle racism and the systems that support it.
