‘Giving People a Reason to Live’ : Volunteers Extend Helping Hand to Mentally Ill

Bonnie Taylor-Davis invited an 87-year-old woman who had spent 55 years in a psychiatric center to share a ride to a suburban shopping mall.

It was a commonplace trip that had an unexpected result.

“Up until that point, she had never been responsive, but, after we got back to the center, she kissed me all over the face and said, ‘Thank you, thank you,’ ” Taylor-Davis said. “Now, we’re trying to find out why she’s been kept there so long.”

Compeer Workshop

Taylor-Davis recounted her experience recently at a national workshop of Compeer Inc., a volunteer group that began with 10 volunteers in Rochester 12 years ago and has spread to 22 states. More than 1,000 Compeer volunteers spend several hours a week helping troubled people.

A 1984 study by the National Institute of Mental Health found that nearly one-fifth of all adult Americans have some type of mental problem--such as a fear of leaving the house, prolonged depression or an addiction to drugs.

Compeer has been cited as a way to help combat problems ranging from teen-age suicide to homelessness. Officials estimate that about half of the homeless suffer from some type of mental illness.

“What’s unique about Compeer is that it has pulled together everything learned in the area of volunteer mental health support programs into a tight package,” said Dr. Samuel Silverstein, chief of education and training for the National Institute of Mental Health.

Aim at Prevention

“Our role is one of prevention, and we do that by giving people a reason to live,” said Bernice W. Skirboll, the organization’s executive director. “We want to get these people before they get on the streets or before they go into the psychiatric centers.”

All patients in the program are referred by a mental health professional--either a psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker. Patients cannot participate if they are considered dangerous.

Each Compeer volunteer undergoes a five-hour training session with psychologists and Compeer staff members. Volunteers are instructed about such medical concerns as medication and are given specific details about the person they will work with.

Skirboll, who has a master’s degree in community services from the University of Rochester, started with an organization called Adopt-A-Patient. She changed its name to Compeer and its orientation to finding friends for troubled people.

$475,000 Budget

Compeer’s budget this year is $475,000, with $200,000 of that allocated for its Rochester headquarters. Most local chapters raise their own funds and spend about $70,000 a year.

“I’d be less than honest if I said I expected to have this much success,” Skirboll said during a break in the recent workshop.

The program operates like the well-known Big Brother program, with volunteers serving as role models and friends. The major difference is that Compeer volunteers deal with people who are mentally ill.

All levels of mental illness are handled--from hospitalized people who suffer from a chronic illness to people who are having problems coping with a traumatic event in their lives.

Role of Volunteers

Those referred to Compeer for help have one thing in common: They do not have family or friends to turn to for help. Compeer volunteers fill that role.

“Many times, that’s all the people need, is to know that someone cares and that someone will watch out for them,” Skirboll said.

All ages are welcome. Last year, patients ranging in age from 6 to 101 were helped.

In fact, Skirboll said, Compeer has seen a dramatic increase in the number of referrals for children.

She said the number of children in the local program referred by school psychologists, private therapists and others has jumped about 60% in the last two months, and currently there are 80 children waiting for volunteers.

“These are marginal kids--they can go either way,” she said. “Our hope is that, if we get them early enough, we can keep them from spending their lives in psychiatric centers.”

Claire Crittenden, a 38-year-old management consultant, has spent more than a year working with Vicki, a 9-year-old who had “super low” self-esteem, skipped school often and struggled with math.

After six months in the Compeer program, Crittenden said, Vicki won the school’s end-of-the-year award for outstanding math student and most improved attendance.

‘Most Rewarding’

“It’s phenomenal to watch it happen, just through friendship,” Crittenden said. “It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. It’s probably given more back to me than I’ve given to it.”

She said she spends a minimum of five hours a week with Vicki but that most volunteers she knows, who work with adults, average about 2 1/2 hours a week.

The workshop was designed for mental health professionals who want to start a Compeer program. About 50 administrators and social workers from as far away as Alaska, Arkansas, Minnesota and a dozen other states attended the two-day meeting.

“It’s such an excellent program. How can you not sell friendship?” said Cindy Gossett of Fort Worth, Tex. She is hoping to start a program for the Mental Health Assn. of Tarrant County.

Judith Rogers of South Orange, N.J., who said she stood in front of a supermarket on Saturdays to attract volunteers, said the potential payoffs of the job are extraordinary.

One man, she said, had never left his home until Compeer arrived and then he would only leave once a week with a volunteer. One day, the man showed up in her office, alone.

“He said he just wanted to sit across from me and say thank you,” Rogers told the workshop audience.