BUFFALO, N.Y. — A nonprofit that runs a mental health mentoring program for middle and high school students needs your help.
Compeer Buffalo has launched a fundraiser to keep the program going in two local school districts. As school districts face budget cuts and challenges, Compeer Buffalo is trying to raise $120,000 for this school year so the mental health mentoring program can continue.
"Our school-based program is geared toward middle school and high school students who are struggling with their mental health. We work with, up to five districts is how large our program has gotten, and we serve about twenty to thirty students per school that we're in," said Lisa Johnson, the chief strategy officer for Compeer Buffalo.
While funding has already been secured in Lake Shore's budget for this school year, right now, Compeer Buffalo is trying to raise $120,000 to keep the program going in the Maryvale and Cheektowaga Central School Districts.
The mentoring supports students who are struggling.
"There's amazing staff within the schools with their social workers, but the demand and the need is much higher than how many staff they have," Johnson said.
And that's where Compeer comes in. Johnson says college students, primarily studying social work, work with middle and high schoolers one-on-one, and in small groups to build their confidence and their self-esteem.
"Help them work through things that are challenging them at that time using an evidence-based curriculum called the positive action curriculum, they get to build trusted relationships that really help to save lives. We've had students tell us about suicide ideation. We've had students tell us about some really difficult challenges that they're experiencing, and they build trust with one of our student interns throughout the course of the year," Johnson said.
Johnson says the program also helps students with their grades and more.
"Students have told us that they have learned how to manage their anxiety. That they learn how to interact with their peers even more because of the program," Johnson said.
Compeer is also looking for volunteers to help with their community-based programs.