Veteran Peer Specialist, Virginia Veteran and Family Support

At Alleghany Highlands Community Services, a Veteran Peer Specialist of Virginia Veteran and Family Support is a person with a mental health or co-occurring condition, actively engaged in their own recovery, who has been trained and certified to help others with these conditions to identify and achieve specific life and recovery goals.



Peer Specialists serve as role models by sharing their personal recovery stories showing that recovery from mental illness is possible. The Specialists teach goal setting, problem solving, symptom management skills and a variety of recovery tools. They empower by helping others identify their strengths, supports, resources and skills. They advocate by working to eliminate the stigma of mental illness and  act as community liaisons by identifying social supports in the community and encouraging the expansion of local community resources.