The phone number 855-PEERS-NC is staffed by certified peer support specialists 24/7. Peer support specialists are people in recovery who have a mental health and/or substance use disorder and can provide nonclinical support based on their lived experiences.
This summer, Kevin Mahoney decided to return to Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness, which he co-founded and where he will focus on educating the younger generation of peer support specialists.
Justin Shytle moved to Asheville when he was 7 years old and remembers a childhood attending Bele Chere and skating around the former Vance Monument. But at 14, their childhood came to an abrupt end when they discovered their father dead from an overdose. The experience “opened the door for my IV drug use and […]
Anton Sluder never thought he’d be excited about his future. “Who was going to help someone like me?” he says. With a felony record and a history of substance use, he had little hope. But when Sluder left prison in September 2021, he was assigned a peer support specialist through Investments Supporting Partnerships in Recovery […]
The concept of peers helping peers is nothing new in health care, but in Buncombe County the interest in peer support specialists is growing. Known informally as PSS, these people help others navigate the mental health and substance abuse system. However, peer support specialists have a unique perspective: They’re in recovery from mental illness and/or substance abuse themselves. As of March 21, there were 838 peer support specialists in North Carolina, 65 of them in Buncombe County. (Map courtesy of the Peer Support Specialist Program at UNC-Chapel Hill)
