Mobile Peer Support Club

The Mobile Peer Support Club takes our clubhouse on the road. We set up in parks, community spaces and local events with art, games, music and sharing circles. Anyone can stop by. You don’t need an appointment, a referral or a diagnosis, and you don’t have to be part of any program.

Some people will never walk into an agency or sign up for a support group. They might sit down to make art, join a game or listen in on a circle. That’s where trust starts, and trust is what makes it possible to ask for help.

What happens at a pop-up

Art and creative activities: drawing, painting, writing, music and other hands-on projects anyone can join.
Games: cooperative and strategy games, including the chess, card and brain-teaser tools we use in the Mental Martial Arts Dojo.
Sharing circles: peer-led circles where people can talk about goals, setbacks and what’s going on in their lives.
Peer conversations: one-on-one time with people who have lived through homelessness, addiction and trauma themselves.
Resource connections: when someone asks for help with food, housing, recovery, transportation, work or benefits, we share information and connect them to local services.

People can stay for five minutes or the whole afternoon. Nobody is pressured to share or take part.

Where we go

Our mobile outreach runs from our two home bases, the Dojo and the Clubhouse, and reaches people across Akron and Summit County. We bring supplies, food and support directly to the places people are.

Second Chance Village volunteers hand out boxes of supplies from the back of an SUV at a park in the evening — **Evening drop-off**Volunteers hand out supplies from the back of an SUV.

A Second Chance Village volunteer hands supplies to a community member from a car trunk full of boxes and bags — **Hand to hand**Supplies passed straight from the car.

Second Chance Village volunteers serve pizza to community members at an outdoor table — **Pizza on the street**Serving pizza at an outdoor outreach stop.

A Second Chance Village volunteer serves a plate of hot food from a large pot at an outdoor table — **Hot meals**Serving a hot meal straight from the pot.

Second Chance Village volunteers bring supplies to people on bikes along a railroad track — **Along the tracks**Bringing supplies to people where they are.

A Second Chance Village volunteer carries a bag of supplies through the woods to deliver to someone — **Into the woods**Carrying supplies out to someone who needs them.

Second Chance Village volunteers deliver supplies from the back of a car during mobile outreach — **Delivering supplies**Volunteers deliver supplies during a mobile outreach stop.

Supplies are handed out from an open car trunk during a Second Chance Village mobile outreach stop — **Straight from the trunk**Supplies handed out right where people are.

Akron Community Foundation awarded Second Chance Village $2,500 from its Capital Fund toward an outreach vehicle, helping us bring supplies, food and peer support directly to people across Akron and Summit County.

Coming to Bath Township

We’re planning 4 to 12 Mobile Peer Support Club pop-ups in Bath Township over the coming year, at parks, community spaces and local events. We’ll post dates and locations here once they’re set. If you’re part of a Bath organization, event or congregation and would like to host a pop-up, please get in touch.

Help us show up

Pop-ups run on volunteers, drivers, art and game supplies, and gas money. You can host a pop-up, volunteer as a driver, donate supplies or give to keep the club moving.

Host a pop-up

Volunteer

Donate