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Text to connect with our Boston College peer support network!

Leadership Team
Lean On Me: Boston College


Reed Piercey
BC Chapter Founder & President
Reed is an International Studies major who is passionate about international politics, conflict resolution, and creating welcoming spaces for all. A Samaritans Helpline volunteer on weekends, he has grown to care deeply about bringing greater access to mental health resources to BC's campus.



Cady Sanderson
BC Interim Chapter President
A double major in Economics and Applied Psychology, Cady is passionate about learning how people work and make decisions. Through Lean On Me, she hopes to begin working more with mental health, and to positively impact the students in the BC community.



Aneeb Sheikh
Director of Outreach and Publicity
Aneeb is a Political Science major and has a strong passion for advocacy and mental health. He is incredibly excited to reach out to his peers and spread the word about Lean On Me. In his spare time he likes to watch Barack Obama speeches and read about Muhammad Ali.



Shaye Carver
Training Coordinator
Shaye is a Biochemistry major and a Medical Humanities minor. She hopes to pursue a medical degree while blending a more holistic perspective (the promotion of physical, mental, and spiritual health) into such a physically-centered occupation. At BC, she is also a member of a service group at ACEDONE, a grassroots organization where she tutors Somali refugees, and a member of the undergraduate government. While promoting inclusion and overall health are her passions, mental health in particular has become the forefront of her focus during her college career. She believes strongly in the importance of developing new resources at BC that cater to students’ mental health needs.



Hugh McMahon
Head of Recruitment
Hugh is a Political Science major. At BC, he is a member of the Undergraduate Leadership Academy and BC Peace Action, as well as a volunteer at Samaritans Suicide Prevention Helpline. Hugh is passionate about cultivating an inclusive community which values connection and empathy on BC's campus, and is therefore immensely excited to be a member of the Lean on Me team.



Chapter News

Our Policies

Lean On Me National

Lean On Me automatically and anonymously matches peers to create crowd-sourced texting networks of instantaneous support across organizations. We envision a world where everybody has someone to lean on.
How Our Hotline Works
1

Text Our Hotline

Find a hotline number in your community, and then text an whatever you'd like to talk about to the hotline! This can range from brief messages such as "All of my friends are busy and I want someone to talk to" to a longer, more serious message. Our supporters are here to listen to you, and to be there for you – the topic of conversation is your choice!
2

Match With a Supporter

Once a text is received, all active Supporters will be informed that a new request has come in, and within a few minutes you will be anonymously matched with one!
3

Receive a Reply

Typically, the expected wait time is just under 5 minutes. While the service is available at any time of day, please remember that Supporters are your peers, who lead their own busy lives and occasionally remember to sleep. As a result, the wait time for a conversation sent in at 4:30am may be slightly longer, and we thank you for understanding that!
4

Have a Conversation

You can now have a conversation with the Supporter! Feel free to carry on the conversation for as long as you like. If you ever feel uncomfortable with a Supporter text “/flag” to the hotline, and we’ll match you with another! For a full list of commands, text "/help" to the hotline. Supporters will never see your slash commands.
5

End the Conversation

Conversations should last for as long as you would like them to, and you can end a conversation with a Supporter at any time by texting "/bye" to the hotline. If you text again you will be matched with a new Supporter and they will not see what you wrote before.
6

Provide Feedback

Once a conversation ends, you will be asked to provide feedback, helping make the service better for future users. By no means is this mandatory, but it should take ~4.20min and we would really appreciate it. Your input will have a very real effect on the future of Lean On Me, and on any changes we make to the service!
Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the peer supporters?

Supporters are volunteers who share your experiences and are excited to converse with you! They are your peers, as determined by the context of the hotline. (For example, the MIT hotline's supporters are all MIT students.) While they are not formally licensed or certified, they do go through our Supporter Training

How can I be a part of Lean On Me in my community?

We're always looking for more people to join the team! If you're interested in applying to be a peer supporter, please go to your chapter's website for more information. If you'd like to be part of the Lean On Me organizational team or software development squad, please email us!

Can I start a Lean On Me hotline?

If you're part of a group that is interested in having a Lean On Me hotline, please email us and our team will get back to you as soon as possible. Our service is still in the development phase, but we are looking to expand to other universities as well as other organizations in the future, and would love to start a conversation with you now!

How anonymous is it, really?

Completely! When users text in, their number is encrypted, and their messages are conveyed to our Supporters by the hotline number itself. Neither the User nor the Supporter ever see the other’s number, both communicate solely with the hotline number. While we do know how many repeat Users we’ve had, we don’t know who Users are, we don’t know where Users live, or anything else Users don’t tell us throughout the course of the conversation itself for that matter. But... we can’t promise the NSA won’t!

Is this also a suicide hotline? Can I text in a crisis situation?

We are not a suicide hotline, nor are we trained to deal with crisis-level situations. We’re just kind peers willing to listen and talk, but if you need urgent help or find yourself in a crisis, please call 9-1-1, or text “HOME” to the National Crisis Textline at 741-741.

How can I provide feedback?

Feedback is always welcome! If you have a suggestion, please drop us a line at team@lean0n.me! We are constantly thinking about how to improve the Lean On Me network and technology, so we would love to hear from you.

Becoming a Peer Supporter is easy. Take 4 minutes to fill out an application and you will be 33% there.

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