24 Hour Emergency Telephone (401)738-4300

Volunteer

How To Volunteer

Compeer The Kent Center, in collaboration with the University of Rhode Island Clearinghouse for Volunteers, is offering a variety of opportunities for volunteers to provide support to adults and adolescents in treatment as part of the Compeer program. The Kent Center will provide training, support, and ongoing supervision.

The Kent Center The Compeer Program

Compeer is a not-for-profit organization which matches community volunteers in supportive friendship relationships with children and adults receiving mental health treatment. Compeer provides a fun and flexible volunteer opportunity that fits into your current lifestyle, and a number of different volunteer opportunities including:

  • One-to-One Friendships
    • You can choose to spend time with an adult or a child. As a volunteer, you and your friend share activities you enjoy such as movies, sports, shopping or coffee and a chat or many of the free activities sponsored by the Compeer Program. Your role is to be a supportive friend, role model and advocate, not a social worker, caretaker, or parent. Your Compeer already has a mental health professional – what he or she may lack is a caring, consistent friend. It is important to meet with your friend on a regular basis because consistency and dependability on your part is the best way to gain a mutually rewarding friendship. Many Compeer Programs also serve special populations, such as deaf and hard of hearing and the homeless, who also have a mental illness.
    • Group Placements
      As a group volunteer, you interact with several clients in staff supervised setting, joining in recreational activities, outings and meals. Typically group settings include group homes, supervised apartments, inpatient psychiatric hospital units, and psychosocial clubs.
  • Compeer Calling
    Compeer Calling provides interim support to those waiting for a one-to-one match. Volunteers call each of several potential matches once a week for about fifteen minutes until the matches are made. This contact can improve the interpersonal skills of the recipient and often provides the Compeer staff with information that makes it easier to match them with one-to-one volunteers.

The Kent Center Eligibility Requirements

Anyone 18 years of age or older who wants to make a difference in the life of one person is eligible. Volunteers are matched with persons of the same gender.

The Kent Center How to Become a Compeer Volunteer

  • Complete an application form
  • Attend an interview
  • Attend a training session
  • Choose your Compeer friend
  • Meet with his/her Case Manager
  • Meet your new friend

The Kent Center Get More Info

If you are interested in this or other volunteer opportunities at The Kent Center, please call (401) 738-4300.