Ryan    

My name is Ryan and I'm a peer supporter based in Menomonie. I've spent over a decade in the work of human connection through peer support, restorative justice, social-emotional learning, disability services, and trained facilitation. I'm drawn to the belief that recovery happens in relationship, and that bravery, more than safety, is what lets people say the things that actually need saying. I especially enjoy walking alongside people as they find their own footing, their own path, and their own sources of meaning.

I came to this work the way many peer supporters do: through my own lived experience. As a disabled veteran and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I know what it is to feel disconnected, to lose my footing, and to wonder whether there's really a place for me at all. What brought me to myself wasn't just systems and programs, it was people. The ones who met me as an equal, who made me feel seen rather than something to be fixed, and who reminded me I was never as alone as I felt. That's what I try to offer others now. Not answers, but company; not safety, but the kind of brave, honest relationship where a person can find their own way home.

These days, I design dice-based games about human connection, the kind built to move a table past small talk into something real. In my free time I ride my motorcycle down back roads, work in metal and clay and digital art, run TTRPGs with my family, and I get thoroughly outsmarted by my dogs. I believe that everyone has a place in this world, even when it takes some work to find it."

   David

My name is David, and I'm a peer mentor at Brighter than Sunshine, based in Eau Claire. I want to start with what I most wish someone had told me when I was young: struggling doesn't mean you're broken. It means you deserve support.

As a teenager and young adult, I struggled with severe depression and anger. At twenty, I was committed to a mental institution. That experience hurt more than it helped, but thankfully, my social worker there saw that I wasn't being helped and fought for my release. 

Looking back on my struggles, a lot of my hurt stemmed being asexual and aromantic at a time when even therapists treated that as something that needed fixing. It took years to realize I was never broken.

My anger management issues left me with a criminal record that prevented me from becoming a social worker at the time. But  I was able to find work as a middle school teacher in a short-staffed school district. In that work, I connected well with kids who had their own struggles. In fact, students in crisis often chose me as the first person they'd talk to. 

Today I'm emotionally stable and successful in my career and life. I'm a licensed teacher, a licensed social worker, and am working towards my MSW. I also draw and publish a daily webcomic and am a proud single parent of a wonderful 16-year old son.

My name is Mel and I am a peer mentor at Brighter Than Sunshine. In 2017, I graduated with my bachelors in criminal justice. For the past 10 years, I have worked with many populations in a variety of settings, but I have recently found my passion in peer support. 

I am a member of the LGBTQ+ community whose life has been shaped by both adversity and resilience. My journey has included searching for acceptance, healing from trauma, and learning to embrace who I am with honesty and courage. Along the way, I have experienced profound loss, witnessed the impact of mental health struggles and faced challenges that tested my resilience. Those experiences have shaped me, but they do not define me. Today, I strive to lead with compassion, authenticity, and hope, believing that every person deserves to be seen, supported, and valued just as they are.