Braden Diebel walked through the Buffalo Museum of Science, excitedly pointing out his favorite exhibits and sharing his science knowledge with Ethan Tong, his Compeer mentor.
The two young men have been hanging out together since March, doing things like visiting the Buffalo Museum of Science, walking through Delaware Park, playing carnival games at Canal Fest and seeing the newest Spider-Man movie on opening weekend.
While they were matched through Compeer – a local organization that promotes mental wellness through connection and friendship – the two have become like the brother each never had, they said.
“We hang out, we talk all the time about life stuff throughout his time in high school and anything else that’s going on,” said Tong, a senior at the University at Buffalo.
Fostering such connection has been the goal of Compeer for the past 50 years, said CEO Cheri Alvarez. The organization, founded in 1973 in Rochester by Bernice Skirboll after she was in a near-fatal car crash, celebrates its half-century anniversary this year.
“We believe in the healing power of friendship,” Alvarez said.
Compeer matches people living with a mental health diagnosis with volunteers from the community for friendship to address the challenges that often come with mental health disorders, Alvarez said. Clients are referred to Compeer by their mental health professional, and the mentors are volunteers who find the agency usually through word of mouth, as Tong did.
The pairs are matched based on compatibility and shared interests.
The organization asks that each pair commit a…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply