[NYAPRS Enews] Compeer Program Wins National Reintegration Award

[Harvey Rosenthal]

NYAPRS Note: Congratulations to our friends and members at Compeer for
this well deserved recognition!

 

Compeer Program Wins National Reintegration Award

2012 Lilly Reintegration Award for Social Support given to Compeer
Greater Buffalo senior services program on April 16 in Chicago

 

Rochester, N.Y., April 17, 2012-Compeer for Seniors, an older adult
service of Compeer Inc. affiliate Compeer Greater Buffalo (Buffalo,
N.Y.), is the winner of the 2012 Lilly Reintegration Award for Social
Support, given this year in partnership with the National Council for
Community Behavioral Healthcare. Compeer Greater Buffalo Executive
Director Michele Brown and Director of Senior Services Sarah Stimm
received the award during the Celebration of Excellence Awards Dinner on
Monday, April 16 at the Hilton Chicago, Chicago, Ill.

 

Compeer for Seniors has been providing services to elders in Erie County
since its founding in 1985. As a contract agency of the Erie County
Department of Mental Health, Compeer is currently the largest provider
of best practice and evidence-based friendship services to elders with a
mental health diagnosis in Erie County. The agency provides a unique
service to the community and is presently serving close to 100 seniors
annually.

 

"We are thrilled to be recognized for our remarkable service which helps
keep our aging seniors independent, healthy, and happy for as long as
possible," said Brown. "This achievement signifies the value of our work
in the community, and acknowledges the wonderful commitment of our
program volunteers and the healing power of friendship."

 

Compeer Greater Buffalo is one of twenty affiliate programs of Compeer
Inc. in New York State. 

 

Compeer programs match professionally screened, trained, and monitored
volunteers in one-to-one supportive friendship and mentoring
relationships with children, adults, and seniors striving for good
mental health. A new peer mentoring initiative, CompeerCORPS Vet-to-Vet
matches military veterans in one-to-one relationships to support their
reintegration into family and community; this veteran-focused program is
underway in Buffalo, as well as in Rochester, and Utica, N.Y.

 

In 2012, Eli Lilly and Company partnered with The National Council to
present the Reintegration Awards, which has been a program supported
since 1997 by Lilly. This annual award program celebrates the
achievements of those in the community who dedicate themselves to
improving the lives of individuals with serious mental illnesses.
Winners receive a $10,000 grant, an inscribed trophy, airfare and hotel
expenses for the awardee and a guest, and two complimentary tickets to
the celebration. For more information, visit thenationalcouncil.org. 

        

About Compeer in New York State

Compeer Inc. (www.compeer.org <http://www.compeer.org/> ) provides
supportive leadership to its community-based Compeer programs throughout
the United States, Australia, and Canada; it develops, delivers, and
supports model programs in local communities with goals of social
inclusion, reintegration and stigma reduction, and outcomes such as
decreased crisis service use, positive change or stability in housing
and employment, decreased use of drugs/alcohol. 

Nearly 3,000 individuals were served in N.Y.S. by volunteers
contributing over 85,000 hours. (Compeer Inc. 2010 Annual Survey Report)
Because Compeer uses a volunteer base, its services are cost-effective;
in 2010 volunteers contributed nearly $2.5 million in time value in
N.Y.S. serving individuals with mental illness.

Compeer is an adjunct to mental health therapy, and the American
Psychological Association (APA) has recognized Compeer as a
best-practices model for recovery. (2007, 2005)

Compeer Greater Buffalo, A Compeer New York State Center of Excellence

Founded in 1985, Compeer of Greater Buffalo (www.compeerbuffalo.org
<http://www.compeerbuffalo.org/> ) began with the inspired belief that
"friendship is powerful medicine." With this belief, Michele Brown
started the Compeer program in Buffalo, and is still its Executive
Director. Compeer Greater Buffalo serves Buffalo and all of Erie County
through four different volunteer one-to-one supportive relationship
programs: for adults, youth, seniors, and veterans.

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