When people find themselves struggling in times of a crisis, they often don’t know where to turn or are concerned about speaking with a professional. But a group of students at SUNY New Paltz is using skills they’ve learned to help their classmates when they need it most.

Mental health illnesses are becoming more widespread, especially among young adults.

“Depression and anxiety, those are definitely the two biggest things college students deal with, and it’s just very prevalent,” said Tyler Anderson, coordinator of Oasis/Haven at SUNY New Paltz.

Students at SUNY New Paltz lead the Oasis/Haven program on campus to help their peers struggling with those difficulties, as well as academic problems, loneliness, roommate hassles, suicide-related thoughts and behaviors, rape, sexual assault, relationship violence and more.

It is a crisis intervention center and telephone hotline that allows trained students to help those facing challenges.

“Being a student, you understand other students’ struggles. I think it’s also the age, so being able to have someone around the same age makes it more comfortable for you to interact, but also to open up with,” said Jessica Giordano, the Wednesday night supervisor for Oasis/Haven at SUNY New Paltz.

Anderson and Giordano are leaders within the organization. They got involved by taking a class called crisis intervention during the fall 2020 semester. During that time, they were trained on how to handle the different situations students may come in for. They officially joined the following semester.

“In the midst of COVID, and as most people know, that was when the mental health movement was starting to hit its pace and mental health awareness started to become more widespread, and it made me realize that one, the world needs more counselors; and two, that I think this is a field I want to pursue and that I’m passionate about,” Anderson said.

“Personally, I’ve always wondered why people do the things that they do or why we feel certain things, the way we act and react to certain statements,” Giordano said.

In their positions, they’ve been able to help students over the phone and now in-person as well. They were recently given their own space on campus, allowing them to have a room for walk-in clients, a private section to answer phone calls from people seeking help and an area to use for training.

“We initially didn’t even have, like, a building on campus for, so we kind of just gradually, they gradually built it up from just pretty much nothing, just students just in a room counseling each other,” Anderson said.

They said the space has allowed them to reach even more students than before.

“Instead of doing the phone and actually being in-person, you get to see the person that you’re talking to. I feel like that connection is really important,” Giordano said.

“I think anyone can benefit from talking to someone or seeking help through counseling,” Anderson said.

The members encourage anyone to seek out help if they need it. Their service is open to students from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. seven days a week.

Note to viewers: The accompanying video shows a mock training session among students already involved in the group.