Students Reach Out to Mental Health Patients
by Elizabeth Crumpler

Some UNC-CH Students are reaching out to help mental health patients in Orange County feel more included in the community.

Students make up roughly 30 percent of a program called Compeer, which is run by the Mental Health Association of Orange County. Compeer coordinates friendships between trained volunteers and patients being treated for mental illness.

The program has won multiple awards for the sense of security and trust it affords patients through friendship. Executive director Paula Hyman has seen first-hand the difference Compeer makes.

“I see change in people,” Hyman says. “I see people’s lives change because of this.”

For more information or to get involved in the Compeer program, click to visit the MHAOC website.