Who We Are
The Longhorn SHARE Project (Support, Healing, Active listening, Reciprocity, Empowerment) is a mental health & social connection-focused peer support program housed in the Longhorn Wellness Center. We launched in Fall 2022 and are already making a big impact at UT! Our program promotes peer support as a non-clinical, non-hierarchical form of community care that builds students' emotional and social self-efficacy and decreases mental health stigma and disconnection.
Our peer ‘SHARE Support Specialists’ are trained in Mental Health First Aid, active/reflective listening, Motivational Interviewing techniques, group facilitation, ethical decision-making, and more - over 85 hours per student! Our program currently offers the following opportunities to ALL UT students:
- WEEKLY CONNECTION & MUTUAL SUPPORT COMMUNITIES | SHARE Communities are peer-led groups with unique topics chosen based on the facilitators’ lived experiences. Participants co-create their culture, form friendships, build communication and wellness skills, and share validation, encouragement, and growth!
- …ONE-TIME STORY CIRCLES | SHARE Circles are a ‘workshop alternative’ that can be requested by student orgs, faculty, or staff to build connection and empathy within existing groups by helping them share stories & support around a central theme.
- 1-on-1 DISCUSSIONS WITH TRAINED PEERS | SHARE Chats – Private, nonjudgmental, non-clinical support by request for students looking to vent, talk through challenges or tough decisions, and get help connecting to other resources.
What We're Fundraising For
Compensation for SHARE Student Advisory Group
As a peer support program, engaged and invested peer leadership is essential to our success. The SHARE Student Advisory Group helped create this program and continues to shape SHARE’s culture and priorities and spread the word about the amazing spaces we offer. The group meets with our Program Coordinator every week to plan initiatives and events, reflect on successes and opportunities, and collaborate on a vision for bringing mental wellness and mutual support experiences to more peers at UT.
Since Fall 2021, each member of this core group has received a $1200 annual stipend for their work - about 4-5 hours per week outside of their Support Specialist responsibilities. SHARE doesn't have a consistent source of funding to guarantee that we can continue doing this (yet!), so we're relying on fundraising to ensure we can compensate the indispensable work of these student leaders next year.
Resources for SHARE Communities
Much of the heart and magic of the Longhorn SHARE Project happens within SHARE Communities. Our peers plan and promote their own Community topics and co-facilitate weekly meetings -- which often include activities (like using crafts to represent a personal experience or feeling) and snacks or drinks (like hot tea for this semester’s “AnxieTEA”) to create comfort and community within their spaces.
Most SHARE Communities need, on average, about $50 per semester for supplies and promotional materials to be successful, and each semester we have at least 10-12 Communities. To maintain the engaging and creative standard we’ve set for these spaces, even a small donation would go a long way!
What Your Support Will Impact
From participants in SHARE Communities:
“The most positive aspect of participating in a SHARE Community was finding comfort in strangers who had similar identities but were still different. I also really enjoyed how although there were serious topics, we did not feel it as heavily because we all understood and were able to talk about it easily.”
“Since participating in a SHARE community, I've become more comfortable with being vulnerable with my emotions. Additionally, I found comfort in being with other people who struggle with body image and the different sub-topics that surround it.”
“I have learned so much about myself that I believe has transformed me and is continuing to transform me into a better version of myself. I’ve learned so much from others as well. It has been an amazing experience.”
“This group made me realize just how lonely and starved for human interaction I was these past 2 years. It was super comforting to have something constant in my week and know that I had a designated time to talk to other people who had similar struggles. I loved how open the discussions were and free to side tangents. I was especially fond of the comfortable silences; I find it's a very rare thing nowadays.”
From SHARE Support Specialists:
“Creating a space for people to simply be themselves and to take part in has been every bit as fulfilling as I expected it would.”
“SHARE has provided me such an incredible source of community. I have gained beautiful friendships and felt profound belonging. It has taught me a lot, too—I feel much more confident connecting with strangers, communicating through conflict, and building community.”
“SHARE has helped me cultivate self-love. I reflect on what kind of person I want to be, and I get to practice that every day with the skills I have learned. Before SHARE, I would invalidate my own struggles and probably others’. I now see myself as a empathetic person who cares about mental health and values the struggles that others go through.”
