{"id":46705,"date":"2018-10-02T06:43:49","date_gmt":"2018-10-02T12:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=46705"},"modified":"2021-02-07T20:52:17","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T03:52:17","slug":"peer-support-centre-still-rockin-after-all-these-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2018\/10\/02\/peer-support-centre-still-rockin-after-all-these-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Peer Support Centre still rockin’ after all these years"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>he Peer Support Centre\u00a0<\/a>is a place where students can go to relax, make new friends, and enjoy the safe place SAITSA provides.<\/p>\n

T<\/span>he centre was opened by Amanda Hanna and Teagan Cochrane of the SAITSA executive, in November of 2013.<\/p>\n

They opened the centre so they could address mental health issues on campus.<\/p>\n

When asked what is the goal the Peer Support Centre is, Sarah Hogendorp<\/a>, the co-ordinator, said, \u201cTo foster more community and combat isolation while providing tools to help students face mental health issues before they reach a crisis point.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have staff who enforce rules around respect and kindness who are informed about issues that affect marginalized communities such as the LGBTQ+ community, Indigenous students, immigrant students and students living with disabilities,\u201d Hogendorp said.<\/p>\n

Last year Hogendorp was hired to be the new co-ordinator so she could focus on students’ mental health and to watch over the Peer Support Centre.<\/p>\n

The Peer Support Centre has different theme days so they can bring students together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the majority of the programming hasn\u2019t changed since I started,” Hogendorp said.<\/p>\n

“Most changes are initiated by myself, my manager Natasha Lundrigan, the VP Student Life or the SAITSA President.\u201d<\/p>\n

The busiest day in 2014 for the centre was Jan. 28th<\/sup> when 39 students walked into the centre.<\/p>\n

The busiest day this year was Jan. 17th<\/sup> and 111 students came to the centre.<\/p>\n

When asked what changed since working at the Peer Support Centre, Franz Diaz, a peer support employee for three years, said the centre changed the room, management, co-workers, and events.<\/p>\n

\u201cPride Night was added, yoga was removed, videogames only happen on Thursdays instead of every day, and Karaoke Friday was changed to\u00a0Flashback Friday,\u201d Diaz said.<\/p>\n

Diaz said his favorite part of working in the Peer Support Centre was getting to meet \u201ccool\u201d people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try my best to manage my time efficiently. I sometimes do school work and meet my teammates at the centre,” said Diaz.<\/p>\n

“It is not very difficult as the staff work part time, and schedules are very convenient for our classes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI use my planner,\u201d Paige Krentz, a first year Peer Support Centre employee said.<\/p>\n

Krentz said she enjoys getting to know different people and seeing their views on the world.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Health, Love, Friendship: <\/strong>Izunna Nwogbo poses for a picture by the Peer support Centre at SAIT on Oct. 29, 2018. Izunna enjoys what the centre has to offer. (Photo by Athena Bishop\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Peer Support Center is a place where students can go to relax, make new friends, and enjoy the safe place SAITSA provides. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":483,"featured_media":46707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S2 Peer Support","footnotes":""},"categories":[510],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-46705","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-saitsa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/483"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46705"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47723,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46705\/revisions\/47723"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}