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Volunteering > Volunteering for MHA of Westchester

Adult Home Peer Support Volunteers

For adults with serious mental illnesses, living in adult homes can be a confusing and lonely experience. Many adult homes are not knowledgeable about mental health recovery and are not able to provide the personalized support to residents with mental illness that is responsive to their daily needs and supportive of their need for self-determination and self-advocacy. Peer Support volunteers provide companionship, support and recreational activities. They impart information regarding residents' rights, community resources and services. Peer Support volunteers communicate a hopeful attitude that people with serious mental illness can and do recover from mental illness.

Is It For Me?

If you are a person with a successful mental health recovery history, who would like to provide a minimum of one hour per week of support to a resident of an adult home with mental illness, this may be the right opportunity for you. You will be provided with an initial 10-hour training program and regularly scheduled supervision.

To learn more about being an Adult Home Peer Support volunteer, contact Bob Litwak at 914-949-7035, extension 213 or e-mail him at litwakr@mhawestchester.org.

What We Deliver

In your 10-hour training program you will learn about:

Adult homes
Communication and listening skills
An overview of mental illness
Community resources
Recovery and rights
Nutrition

For your adult home resident you will contribute a minimum of one-hour weekly visits in which you will:

Provide companionship and support
Provide recreational outings
Provide information regarding community resources and supports
Impart an increased sense of hope and purpose
Teach the possibility of recovery from mental illness
Educate regarding resident rights
Teach self-advocacy

You will participate in, at minimum, monthly individual and group supervision sessions.

Where

Adult Home Peer Support volunteers visit residents in adult homes in Westchester County, New York.

Training and supervision will be provided at:

MHA of Westchester
Sterling Club
29 Sterling Avenue
White Plains, NY 10606

Click here for How Can I Get Here?

When

Peer Support Volunteers visit with residents at mutually convenient times.

Cost

There is no cost to the volunteer or the resident.

Staff/Service Providers

The program is supervised by a master's level social worker who specializes in rehabilitative and recovery oriented services.

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