Our Peer Advocacy and Support services are designed to help people get started on and continue their own positive pathways to behavioral health and wellness.
Our Peer Advocacy and Support staff work with people in a variety of ways. As educators, we explore new ways to improve their behavioral health and overall well-being.
As advocates, we resolve any issues they have obtaining quality services. As peers, we connect them to other people who have similar lived experiences, and who can understand and support them. And as connectors, we directly link them with other useful health and wellness resources in the community.
People USA began as an advocacy and support organization, and that experience informs all of our programs.
“I just got my Master’s in Social Work. Instead of going the clinical route, I wanted to do a more peer-based job, and I wanted to work at People USA. I really wanted to get involved. I think it’s very important to have someone you are working with who has similar experience to you and who is not so far removed that it is very clinical. With a peer, you are able to relate to them more and just be casual. We start off by saying we are peers, we have lived experience and try to get them to open up a little bit.
“I’m very happy being a peer, I’m very passionate about mental health. I think being so open with my own story and my own experiences helps other people feel comfortable. We like to say that recovery is possible, it’s not some far off, scary thing. Anyone can recover and we want to instill hope in people.” – Kristen Lopez
