The association's Compeer program is targeted for people with emotional problems or those whose physical ailments could result in emotional difficulties, and the Family Companion program is geared to parents of abused and neglected children. Each program assigns volunteers to clients on a one-to-one basis.
The three companion programs were initiated in 1983, and the association operates at least one program in each of seven counties - Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem.
Compeer serves 15 people in Camden and Gloucester Counties. Community Companion helps 34 people in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester Counties. Family Companion, the newest program, operates in Burlington County with 15 clients.
The programs in Camden, Gloucester and Burlington Counties use 64 volunteers who spend two or three hours weekly with their companions. Each program has its own director and source of money. But they share the goals of promoting self-sufficiency and independence in their clients and providing them with caring friends.
"Many times, people who have emotional problems are stigmatized," said Compeer director Jill E. Robinson. "The neighbors are afraid to talk to them
because they were in the hospital, and the people themselves are afraid to go to the grocery store because everybody in the neighborhood knows they were hospitalized. We want to provide a friend who will be supportive and understanding and be able to bring them back out again."
Compeer, she explained, is a seldom-used English word for companion or friend.
Robinson said she hoped to extend Compeer's services to Burlington County soon. "I'm waiting for both funding and volunteers," she said as she sat in her office at 505 Cooper St. in Camden, where Community Companions also is based.
