Help students find the emotional support they need.

Lean On Me at Berkeley is a student-run, 24/7, non-crisis text support hotline that aims to make mental health support at UC Berkeley less stigmatized and more broadly accessible to students from all backgrounds and identities. Students may encounter stress, imposter syndrome, and relationship struggles in their daily lives, and the hotline provides a safe and anonymous space for students to express their feelings and receive support. Lean On Me Peer Supporters are trained in active listening, empathy, and the importance of confidentiality, and apply these skills when taking on texts from other students. Lean On Me at Berkeley is a chapter of the larger nationwide Lean On Me organization founded at MIT in 2015. We believe that every student deserves access to compassionate support, and our mission is to ensure that mental health resources are within reach for all students. By fostering an environment of trust and understanding, we hope to break down the barriers that often prevent students from seeking help.

This is Lean On Me at Berkeley's first year participating in crowdfunding, and we are excited to get the ball rolling! This year, Lean On Me at Berkeley is fundraising for the yearly cost of keeping the Berkeley chapter of the hotline up and running to support students. These costs include hotline technical fees and supplies used to raise awareness of the hotline number around campus through stickers, posters, and tabling. Since Lean On Me services are completely free for all students, we need YOUR support to keep our hotline running. In an effort to support as many students as possible, Lean On Me at Berkeley is committed to expanding its reach and ensuring that every student knows there is somewhere they can turn to in times of need. By contributing to this campaign, you are directly helping to foster a more supportive and inclusive campus environment where every student feels heard, valued, and connected.

Our Impact

Our chapter of Lean On Me was founded in 2020 during the pandemic as an easily accessible online resource for anonymous mental health support. Since then, we have engaged in over 100 conversations with students at UC Berkeley ranging from a wide variety of topics including breakups, friendship, loneliness, and academic stress.

Unlike other mental health resources on campus,  our hotline is completely anonymous for both the user and the supporter. This means that the user (texting in to the hotline) and the supporter receiving the text will never know each other's names or identities. Our goal is not to build relationships with users, but to be a resource for reliable and judgement-free peer support in times when a student just needs a friend to talk to.

Here are more stats regarding the most popular days and times that our hotline is used:

Meeting our crowdfunding goal will allow our organization to maintain our hotline service, which provides students with a safe space to engage with Peer Supporters!

Budget breakdown: $2,000 is the cost of the technical fees to maintain the hotline. Anything extra will go towards printing posters, flyers, and stickers with the hotline number to give out to students on campus, as well as mental health care packages to hand out to students. If we are not able to reach our goal, funds will be put towards mental health care packages to hand out to students, and posters/stickers promoting mental health.

This budget provides a rough estimate only and actual expenditures may vary.

Thank you for your interest in Lean On Me! For more information about our organization and our mission, please visit our website, Instagram, or contact us here: 

- Lean On Me website: https://leanonmechat.wixsite.com/ucberkeley/

- Lean On Me Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/berkeleyleanonme/

- Email: ashleytaira@berkeley.edu, sophiasiopack@berkeley.edu