Compeer Programs & Services
Compeer offers an array of programs and services for adults and children with mental illness or emotional disturbance. Programs vary by location, but common examples include:
1:1 Adult and Youth Friendship Matches
Community volunteers are matched with adults in recovery of a mental illness or children with emotional problems. They spend time sharing activities such as walks, movies, and sporting and cultural events. This is the most popular Compeer program.
Compeer Calling
Volunteers serve as a telephone friend to someone who could use companionship/emotional support - often providing interim support to consumers waiting for a 1:1 match.
Lunch Buddies
1:1 friendship program in which volunteers meet with youth or adult matches during lunch time.
Recreational Connections
Compeer volunteers are matched with children in developing creative recreational skills in a supervised after-school program. Adult friendship matches benefit from bowling, board games, walk-a-thons, local racing or sporting events in a one-to-one connection with a Compeer.
Group Friendship
Volunteers interact with several adults or youth in staff-supervised settings. This may include monthly coffee gatherings or Bingo nights, and is a great way to involve both established 1:1 matches as well as those on the waiting list for a 1:1 match.
Skillbuilders
Volunteers teach life-enhancing skills, such as job-readiness, money management, computer literacy, needlework, woodworking, or gardening.
Friendship can take many forms, and Compeer programs have the flexibility to devise or implement programs that work best for their volunteers and consumer matches. Friendship offers a lifetime of benefits.
