Finding Natural Supports and Peer Services
Peer support is effective in reaching, teaching, and supporting people with a variety of disabilities. Peers can reach people that may be unwilling to engage with and trust professionals. Peer mentors provide living proof of success and hope for individuals with mental illness that recovery is possible.
Mental Health Peer Support
In behavioral health, a peer is usually used to refer to someone who shares the experience of living with a psychiatric disorder and/or addiction.
- National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghousehttps://www.mhselfhelp.org/
- Clubhouse Internationalhttps://clubhouse-intl.org/what-we-do/international-directory/
- NAMI Connectionhttps://www.nami.org/findsupport/
- NAMI National WarmLine Directoryhttps://www.nami.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Warmline-Directory-as-of-March-7-2025.pdf
Cross-Disability Peer Support
Peer support is a key core service of all centers for independent living. Through disability peer support and role modeling, people with disabilities learn about their rights and responsibilities when it comes to self-determination and how to pursue their goals of self-sufficiency.
- ILRU Directory of Centers for Independent Living (CILs) and Associationshttps://www.ilru.org/projects/cil-net/cil-center-and-association-directory
Self-Advocacy
Self-advocate programs support people with disabilities to empower themselves to become effective decision makers, to gain independence, and to enjoy life as equal citizens of the United States of America. They also empower each other to actively participate in and contribute to their local communities.
- Self-Advocacy Onlinehttps://selfadvocacyonline.org/
- Self-Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center (SARTAC)https://selfadvocacyinfo.org/
Disability Specific Peer Programs
- Amputee Coalitionhttps://amputee-coalition.org/
- Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundationhttps://selfadvocacyinfo.org/
- United Spinal Association Peer Mentoringhttps://unitedspinal.org/peer-mentoring/