Compeer

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A compeer is a companion or friend of equal standing. The term is a portmanteau, most likely a combination of the words comrade and peer (or companion and peer). Compeer is also the name of a non-profit volunteer organization.

Compeer, Inc., is an international, non-profit organization that was established in 1973 in Rochester, New York. The Compeer program seeks to help people overcome the effects of mental illness through the power of friendship. It is a volunteer-based program in which adult men and women volunteer to regularly spend time with another adult who is receiving mental health services. The goal is to provide supportive friendships for people in mental-health care, typically as a complement to therapy, in order to help and support them on their journey of recovery from mental illness.

The National Institute of Mental Health chose Compeer as a model program in 1982 and helped fund the development of similar programs throughout the United States. Today, Compeer is an international mental health organization, with approximately 5,000 volunteers at nearly 100 locations in the U.S., Canada and Australia.