The PLEA Agency - Helping individuals with behavioral or developmental problems.

Phone: 412-243-3464
Fax: 412-243-5649

733 South Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15221

Helping individuals and families facing behavioral and developmental challenges
through Programs for Living, Education and Advocacy

The PLEA Agency>Services>Compeer Program

Compeer matches community volunteers in supportive friendship relationships with adults, aged 21 and over, receiving mental health treatment.

A "compeer" is a companion, peer or equal. Loneliness, fear and low self-esteem are universal experiences of those recovering from mental illness. A caring friend can help to restore joy and hope to a life that is often empty of both. Compeer offers a rewarding volunteer opportunity that most volunteers find to be mutually beneficial.

Compeer has provided a creative solution to deteriorating support systems through the use of volunteers. Involvement in Compeer can dramatically increase skills of the mental health consumers that utilize the service in the following areas:

Sense of security
Self-esteem
Positive risk-taking
Communication skills
Independence

Compeer provides a wide variety of services to mental health consumers based on the simple premise of friendship. Compeer provides several program options to the mental health community.

Compeer One-to-One Friendships
These matches, described above, are between an adult mental health consumer and a caring, community volunteer.

If you are interested in Compeer as a volunteer, please fill out a

Compeer Volunteer Application
and mail or fax to:

The PLEA Agency
733 South Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15221

Fax: 412-243-5649

Compeer Group Match Program

These matches are groups of 5-6 individuals who share similar interests and hobbies. Each group is coordinated by a volunteer who shares the interests of the group. Examples of our groups are those interested in sports, the arts, movies, etc.

Compeer Recreation Center

This program was created to help consumers make and maintain friendships through consistent contact at our center. Our recreation center was designed to be open when consumers needed contact with others the most.
The Compeer Recreation Center operates 3 days a week from 1-5 PM.

Current Compeer Program Descriptions can be found here.

Referring professionals:

For additional information about our services,
please call PLEA at 412-243-3464
or send an email to compeer@plea-agency.org