News

Pictured above from left: Pam Brown (Foundation Secretary), Stephanie Salazar, Mary Stewart (President), and Colleen Sherman

The Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor Foundation recently presented the Eisenberg Family Depression Center with a $25,000 grant to support the Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Program in Washtenaw County Schools. 

The Peer-to-Peer program (P2P) is a student-led, school-based initiative designed to increase awareness of mental health issues, reduce stigma, and encourage help-seeking behaviors, to promote the early detection and treatment of depression, anxiety, and related disorders. 

Peer-to-Peer was created in 2009 in partnership with Ann Arbor Public Schools in a joint effort to prevent suicide. Built on the premise that teens are more likely to respond to messaging from their friends than adults, the program engages student leaders, teaching them about mental health conditions and supporting them in designing and implementing proactive public health campaigns at their schools to educate their peers.

The $25,000 grant from the Kiwanis Club will fund three opening conferences for the 2024-25 P2P student team members. Each full-day conference includes information on depression and anxiety, how to help a friend and best practices for creating an effective public health awareness campaign. 

"The success of this program hinges on these essential kick-off events where the students are equipped with accurate information about depression and anxiety," says Stephanie Salazar, manager of the Center's Outreach & Education team. "We're so grateful to the Kiwanis Club for their generous funding, which allows us to set the students and schools up for success." 

Twenty-eight schools in Washtenaw County currently participate in Peer-to-Peer, with more than 400 students actively involved on P2P teams. The student-created campaigns reach tens of thousands of students each year, with data collection showing that following the campaigns: 

• Students are more confident in their ability to identify someone who is showing common signs of depression and to help them access mental health support services
• They are more likely to seek help if they are experiencing symptoms of depression themselves
• Students are less likely to keep it a secret if a friend is thinking about suicide
• They are more comfortable discussing mental health issues with their peers
• Students reported lower stigma in their school environment related to students with mental health challenges

Since its inception, the award-winning program has expanded to 57 schools nationwide and continues to grow yearly. Learn more about our Peer-to-Peer Program.