Compeer for Kids

Founded in 1985, the Buffalo Compeer for Kids Program is the largest in the country and helps kids throughout Buffalo and Erie County.

We match volunteers in one-to-one friendship and mentoring relationships with at-risk children who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses and/or emotional difficulties. Compeer volunteers also help parents, educators and mental health professionals. Compeer children thrive in one-on-one relationships with their volunteer friends, who become their role models and mentors.

There are more than 200 children who are actively matched in a mentoring relationship, with 69% diagnosed with severe emotional problems and 31% having experienced psychiatric hospitalization.  

This past year 450 Compeer volunteers spent over 28,000 hours with their friends. 
 
Compeer receives referrals from over 75 different mental health agencies serving children, in addition to private practitioners and counselors at various school systems.  Referral sources include Child and Family Services, Child & Adolescent Treatment Services, Western New York Children's Psychiatric Center, Children's Hospital - Department of Psychiatry, Baker Victory Services, Mid-Erie Counseling and Treatment Services, Friendship House, Amity House and Gateway-Longivew.