Santa Clara resident Brittany G. was recognized with sort 1 bipolar dysfunction at age 19 and has had a number of hospitalizations. She has suffered homelessness and has a traumatic mind damage because of a bicycle accident in 2012.
Now Brittany has discovered a manner to assist herself whereas serving to others who reside with psychological well being situations. By the Neighborhood Peer Program administered by the Nationwide Alliance on Psychological Sickness in Santa Clara County (NAMI-SCC), she works as a peer connector, a mentor who has navigated his or her personal psychological well being journey. Members join by way of weekly cellphone calls and in individual check-ins. This system lasts as much as 4 months.
“Now I get to help people,” Brittany says. “By me just being myself, I am able to make such an impact.
“My knee-jerk reaction when I heard about it was, I want to do that,” says Brittany, including that she needs she’d had a peer connector. “There are so many points in my journey and my recovery that I would have benefited from someone else with a lived experience. I was just so alone.”
Nonetheless, she says, being a mentor is “definitely helping my own recovery. There’s a reciprocity. It’s a truly wonderful, one-of-a-kind program.”
This system has served 680 neighborhood members since 2017. It’s self-referral solely, and any individual residing with psychological sickness in Santa Clara County can apply to obtain a peer connector.
“Our peer connectors have experienced their own major mental illnesses but have achieved a substantial degree of personal wellbeing and stability,” says Rovina Nimbalkar, government director of NAMI- SCC. “The focus of our program is to help the individuals develop independent thinking and find the confidence to shape their future.”
This system is funded by grants from El Camino Healthcare District and different non-public basis grants. NAMI-SCC has an annual NAMIWalks Silicon Valley to fundraise for its applications.
“Before this program became available, our participants tell us that they were in a revolving cycle of hospitalizations,” says Nimbalkar. “Due to the intensity of their symptoms and medication side effects, many of them were not able to engage fully in their treatment by communicating with their treatment team or able to attend support groups or educate themselves by taking education classes.
“This (program) helps them feel more engaged in their own recovery,” she provides.
Members are requested to set objectives, observe self-care strategies and turn out to be extra impartial. Peer connectors share sources, promote self-advocacy and current choices for progress. They don’t repair, save, give recommendation or “set a participant straight” of their time collectively, in response to Nimbalkar.
Changing into concerned with the peer connector program lets contributors know they’re not alone, she says, and that what they’re experiencing is regular.
South Bay resident Kristy Okay. was paired with Brittany in August 2024. Kristy struggles with dyslexia and has skilled homelessness. She grew up in a Japanese immigrant household and has a number of family members with extreme PTSD that stems from World Struggle II.
As well as, Kristy suffers from persistent ache because of a number of accidents, one in all which derailed a promising ice skating profession. Incapacity compounded her psychological well being struggles, says Kristy.
“I felt very ashamed to call, terrified,” says Kristy, including that she thought, “I’m better off dead than asking for this kind of help. I’m a disgrace.”
Kristy lastly sought assist from Incapacity Help Providers at De Anza Faculty in Cupertino, which led to her calling NAMI’s helpline. They inspired Kristy to enroll in the Neighborhood Peer Program and finally paired her with Brittany.
“Talking to her gave me so much confidence,” says Kristy. “We could relate on so many different levels (by my) hearing her experience and different traumas and struggles.”
Peer connectors can turn out to be function fashions that encourage the contributors, says Nimbalkar. For a few of them, the mentorship is their first job since their very own hospitalizations, she provides.
Brittany has been secure for a number of years. She acquired her bachelor’s diploma from UC Berkeley and may end an AA at Mission Faculty in psychology later in 2025.
“Speaking with Brittany was really great,” says Kristy. “She let me explain myself. I was very scared, and Brittany just made me feel very safe. She gave me so much understanding. She made me feel special.”
Due to the Neighborhood Peer Program, says Kristy, “I can find the resources I need to live a quality life.”
