Finding Inner Strength Through Peer Support
This November, we celebrate the power of allyship and express gratitude to those who use their own experiences to lift others up.
Sometimes, the best support comes from someone who’s faced similar obstacles. Peer Advocates bring empathy, credibility, and lived experience that can’t be replaced.
Yasmin, a mother of five, is part of Vibrant’s Family and Youth Peer Support (FYPS) program. FYPS offers free, compassionate, and culturally competent support for parents/caregivers of youth under 18 with behavioral or emotional health challenges, and young people up to 24 seeking support.
When an incident involving one of her children led to a complicated legal situation, Yasmin felt lost and alone in trying to navigate multiple systems.
“You kind of lose yourself when something bad happens, and you become something you’re not,” she shared. “You forget who you are. You lose hope. [Peer Advocates] help bring you back to reality to find yourself again.”
Soon after, Yasmin was connected with Genessis, a Family Peer Advocate from Vibrant’s Staten Island FYPS team. Referred from another agency that couldn’t meet her needs, Yasmin found in Genessis someone who listened without judgment and stood beside her with care and persistence.
“They take the time to listen, to understand what you’re going through, what you’re saying, and what you’re feeling. It’s a different type of support,” Yasmin added.
Yasmin, Program Participant, Family and Youth Peer Support (FYPS)
Genessis helped Yasmin find a new attorney and accompanied Yasmin to court. “I was so nervous,” she said. “Genessis told me ‘Come on, don’t worry about it. You’re very honest, and truthful, and transparent. Just be you.’”
For Genessis, this work is personal. Her lived experience in special education and within a family affected by addiction shapes her role as a Peer Advocate.
“We know how it feels to be unheard or feel like we are less than in society because of the struggles that we’ve had,” she said.
“We are not here to tell you what to do. We are here to be your village,” she shared. “To teach you how to advocate for yourself and be your own safety net.”
FYPS uses a goal-based, person-centered model, helping families identify and work toward what matters most to them, in periods of 3-6 months.
“The grey areas are a big part of the job I do,” Genessis explained. “That’s why empathy is important—meeting people
where they’re at, not judging a book by its cover. What matters is what’s right and aligned with the goal for the parent, and how we can make this child’s life better and safer.”
Peer Advocates like Genessis also help families navigate systems such as the Administration for Child Services, Department of Education, and the court system, and offer group classes like Parenting Journey, Circle of Security, and Parenting in America.
Yasmin’s daughter now works with a Youth Peer Advocate and is setting her own goals for growth and independence.
“Seeing my daughter, who is usually uncomfortable and defensive with people, interact with the staff at FYPS… I was blown away,” Yasmin said. “It’s not like a hospital. It’s warm. It’s professional, but personal.”
The care Yasmin received inspired her to give back as she now hopes to become a Peer Advocate herself. “Out of all of this… the negative situation… the positive influence I’ve had is that after everything is over, I want to be an advocate also. I want to help someone else get to the finish line. That’s my calling now.”
The dynamic between Yasmin and Genessis embodies the heart of peer support—the courage to ask for help and the transformations that come from connection. This November, we honor people like them, whose compassion and lived experience prove that giving back doesn’t just come circle—it keeps it moving beyond each of us.
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