In March 2005, The Mental Health Empowerment Project, Inc. (MHEP) was one of nineteen recipients of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Statewide Consumer Network Grant. The purpose of this grant was to help develop, support and sustain peer networking groups (PNGs) throughout New York State.
Peer Networking Groups
Peer Networking Groups
Grassroots Networking
A Peer Networking Group (PNG) is a group of peers who come together to disseminate information, share self-directed recovery tools, identify community resources and work together to identify and strategize issues related to systems advocacy.
Training & Technical Assistance
MHEP assists the PNGs by providing training and technical assistance for the purpose of maintaining and increasing membership, promoting leadership development, identifying ways to sustain groups, developing innovative approaches to community organizing and systems advocacy, and identifying fundraising options, and other ways as requested.
Systems Transformation
The Peer Networking Groups hold monthly statewide teleconferences to share skills on a group-to-group level, and to identify ways to impact the mental health service delivery system on a state and federal level. The groups continue to be self-sustaining through the ongoing efforts of their individual members and, as people in a particular area express a desire to organize, a new Peer Networking Group may begin.
NEW YORK PEER NETWORKING GROUPS
STATEWIDE
The Opal Project
Website: www.theopalproject.org
Contact: Lauren Tenney
Tel: (516) 319-4295
Email: laurentenney@aol.com
Hours: 24 hours
WESTERN REGION
Western New York Peer Networking Group
Contact: Rose Cooper
Tel: (716) 783-8124
Email: rac962@roadrunner.com
CENTRAL REGION
Peer Networking Group of the Adirondacks
Contact: Lilah Mitchell
Tel: (518) 521-3507
Email: lilah.mitchell@yahoo.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Contact: Shelley Shutler
Tel: (518) 521-3507
Email: shelley.shutlermhafc@yahoo.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
Peer Networking Group of Central New York, Inc.
Office: (315) 473-1544
Contact: Donna Ce’Cartel
Tel: (315) 222-5843
Email: donnacecartel@yahoo.com
HUDSON RIVER REGION
Capital District Peer Networking Group
Contact: Marianne Briggs
Tel: (518) 235-2173
Email: mariannemhep@live.com
Hudson Valley Peer Networking Group
Contact: James Haskin
Tel: (518) 828-4282
Email: jhaskin@mhacg.org
Hours: Tues. & Thurs. 3:00-5:00 pm
Westchester Peer Networking Group
Contact: Sabrina Johnson
Tel: (914) 682-3926 x 2109
Email: sjohnson@wilc.org
Hours: Mon. – Thurs. 9:00 am- 6:00 pm
Peer Networking Meeting of Rockland
Contact: Beth Wendy Grundfest
Email: malkabethwendy@verizon.net
Contact: Caitlin Sperling
Tel: (845) 445-1002
Email: gmktkdcaitlin@gmail.com
Hours: Mon. 7:30-10 pm; Tues.9-10 pm; Thurs. 12-9 pm; Sun. 8:30-10 pm
NEW YORK CITY
New York City Peer Network Group
Contact: Annette Campbell
Tel: (212) 780-1400 x7728 or 7704
Email: nycpeernetworkgroup@gmail.com
People of Color Network
Contact: Sabrina Johnson
Tel: (914) 682-3926 x 2109
Email: sjohnson@wilc.org
Hours: Mon. – Thurs. 9:00 am- 6:00 pm
Contact: Celia Brown
Tel: (212) 330-6352
Email: ONCSCEB@omh.state.ny.us
LGBT Peer Networking Group
Contact: Helen (Skip) Skipper
Tel: (914) 513-7776
Email: skip@theempowermentcenter.org
Staten Island Peer Networking Group
Contact: Angela Cerio
Tel: (718) 667-2893
Email: peer2peers@aol.com
Harlem Peer Networking Group
Contact: Ed Randolph
Tel: (212)-222-7122
Email: edrandolph203@hotmail.com
LONG ISLAND
Suffolk County Peer Networking Meeting
Contact: Tracy Puglisi
Tel: (631) 226-3900 ext15
Email: tracypuglisi@mhasuffolk.org
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
SEEC – Survivors Educational Empowerment Coalition
Website: www.seecli.org
Email: seecli@optonline.net
Contact: Helen Jasuta
Tel: (866) 669-0450 x1
Contact: Laura Stauffiger
Tel: (866)669-0450 x2
PIPER
Contact: Deb Damone
Tel: (631) 747-4197
Email: Deb_Damone@yahoo.com