Give an Hour - Peer Support Groups

Give an Hour is a national nonprofit organization that works to expand access to mental health support, resources, and education, particularly for people and communities affected by trauma.

Founded in 2005, the organization has developed programs involving mental-health professionals, trained peers, and educational resources.

Its peer support program brings together people with relevant shared experiences to offer encouragement, understanding, and community. These groups are separate from the professional clinical services available through parts of Give an Hour's broader network.

Give an Hour offers free virtual peer support groups that bring together people with similar lived experiences.

Groups are facilitated by trained peer supporters who help participants connect, exchange encouragement, discuss challenges, and share practical coping strategies and resources.

Current program topics include support related to military service, veteran caregiving, financial fraud, interpersonal violence, and justice-system involvement.

Participants can share their experiences, listen to others, and take part in discussions at their own comfort level.

Peer supporters are not necessarily licensed mental health professionals. These groups are not psychotherapy, medical treatment, or emergency crisis counseling.

Give an Hour also maintains clinical counseling and referral programs through participating mental-health professionals. Eligibility, costs, and availability for those services depend on the specific program and provider arrangements. They should not be confused with the free peer-support groups featured here.

Give an Hour's peer support groups are intended for people who share experiences relevant to an available group.

Examples include military service members and veterans, veteran caregivers, people affected by financial fraud, loved ones of fraud survivors, people affected by interpersonal violence, and people with justice-system involvement.

Give an Hour is not exclusively a veterans' organization. Its programs also support civilians.

However, participation is not necessarily open to everyone regardless of circumstances. Some groups are designed for a particular experience or community, and individuals should select a group that fits their situation.

A universal minimum age requirement and complete eligibility rules for every current group were not publicly established in the materials reviewed. Visitors with eligibility questions should contact Give an Hour before registering.

Being unable to afford psychotherapy does not, by itself, establish eligibility for every Give an Hour clinical program.

Give an Hour operates nationally in the United States.

The peer-support groups featured here meet virtually rather than requiring participants to visit one physical location. This allows eligible participants in different areas to seek support remotely.

Certain groups explicitly welcome participants regardless of their location, while eligibility still depends on the experiences or circumstances the group serves.

Participation requires access to the online meeting format. Visitors should confirm that an appropriate group is available and that they meet its participation requirements.

Give an Hour also operates geographically restricted clinical programs. For example, some trauma-related clinical services are associated with a District of Columbia initiative.

The national reach of Give an Hour's organization and provider network does not mean that an individual therapist is available to treat every person in every state.

Give an Hour states that its virtual peer-support groups are offered at no cost.

The peer support service featured in this profile does not require payment for group participation. Joining meetings may require internet access and use of a free Zoom account.

Give an Hour also connects some eligible individuals with participating mental-health professionals through clinical programs. Those arrangements are separate from peer support.

Participating clinicians maintain pro-bono service commitments, but clinical eligibility, provider availability, insurance arrangements, and treatment duration can vary.

Give an Hour's provider guidance permits certain insurance or payment arrangements when accepted by the client. Free clinical care should therefore not be assumed for every applicant or every service.

Visitors should confirm all financial arrangements directly before beginning professional clinical treatment.

To explore free peer support:

1. Visit Give an Hour's official Peer Support page:
https://giveanhour.org/peersupport/

2. Review the available groups and find one related to your experience.

3. Select the option to join a peer support group. This leads to the official registration form:
https://giveanhour.org/contactus/

4. Identify yourself as an individual seeking support and select Peer Support Group. Complete the applicable registration information.

5. Give an Hour states that meeting information and a joining link are sent by email.

6. Follow the instructions to join your scheduled virtual meeting using Zoom.

Participants can engage in discussion or listen, depending on their comfort and the group's participation guidelines.

For questions about joining, contact:
peersupport@giveanhour.org

People specifically seeking professional clinical counseling can inquire through the official Contact Us form and select clinical support. Eligibility and availability must be confirmed directly; completing a request does not guarantee placement with a therapist.

Give an Hour does not provide crisis services. For immediate mental-health or suicide crisis support in the United States, call or text 988.

Give an Hour's virtual peer-support groups meet on scheduled days and times, rather than operating as a continuously staffed hotline.

The organization publishes a weekly group schedule covering different communities and experiences. Meeting times vary by group.

The publicly linked schedule reviewed for this audit was updated in June 2026. Visitors should confirm current meeting days and times through the official Peer Support page and their registration communications.

Give an Hour explains that meeting links and reminders are sent by email after registration.

The public materials reviewed do not establish a guaranteed response time for every peer support registration or guarantee immediate access to a meeting.

Requests for clinical support also depend on the applicable program and availability of participating providers.

Give an Hour does not provide 24-hour crisis intervention or emergency services.

Give an Hour's peer support groups are offered virtually, allowing participants to join without traveling to an in-person meeting location.

The organization's peer support instructions describe joining through Zoom using a free account. Participants may join from a compatible computer, phone, or tablet.

The instructions indicate that participants can turn their camera off, speak, use chat, or listen during meetings.

A reliable internet connection and access to the relevant meeting platform may be necessary.

The reviewed public materials did not establish a comprehensive list of disability accommodations, supported languages, or alternative joining methods for every peer support group.

Visitors who need language assistance, accessibility accommodations, or help using the meeting technology can contact Give an Hour to ask which options are currently available.

Peer support questions can be directed to:
peersupport@giveanhour.org

Give an Hour has operated since 2005 and has developed a national mental-health support network involving participating clinical professionals, trained peer supporters, and educational resources.

Its programs now extend beyond the military and veteran communities that formed an important part of its earlier work.

The organization maintains recurring virtual peer-support programming for several populations affected by trauma and other significant challenges.

A public organizational profile published by Philanthropy Roundtable reports that Give an Hour's network has delivered more than 500,000 hours of clinical care over its history. This is a cumulative, organization-reported measure of service activity.

Give an Hour's ongoing operations are also documented through public nonprofit financial filings.

These accomplishments demonstrate organizational history, service activity, and reach. They do not establish that participation guarantees improvement, and they should not be interpreted as a clinical success rate.

Give an Hour's free peer-support groups are not psychotherapy, medical treatment, or emergency crisis services.

Group facilitators are trained peers and are not necessarily licensed mental-health professionals. Peer support may be valuable, but it should not be represented as a substitute for clinical treatment when professional care is needed.

Groups are organized around particular shared experiences. Not every group is appropriate for every visitor, and availability may depend on scheduling and registration.

Privacy is another important consideration. Give an Hour may establish confidentiality expectations, but it cannot guarantee that other group participants will keep shared information private.

Give an Hour's privacy policy states that the organization itself is not a HIPAA-covered healthcare provider or health plan. Information supplied directly to Give an Hour is therefore not necessarily protected by HIPAA. Independent treating clinicians may have separate legal and professional privacy obligations.

Give an Hour may collect personal and sensitive information during registration and program participation. Its policies describe circumstances in which information may be shared with service providers, relevant partners, or for legal and safety reasons.

Ordinary email and text messages may not be secure ways to communicate sensitive information.

Although Give an Hour maintains a national clinical provider network, the organization does not guarantee that a suitable clinician will be available, accept a referral, or provide treatment for a particular duration.

Some clinical services are restricted to particular populations or geographic programs. Visitors should not interpret this peer-support listing as a guarantee of free clinical therapy.

Give an Hour does not provide emergency or crisis response. For immediate mental-health crisis support in the United States, call or text 988.

Official Give an Hour Peer Support
https://giveanhour.org/peersupport/

Give an Hour Contact Us or Register
https://giveanhour.org/contactus/

Give an Hour Privacy Policy
Last updated October 1, 2026
https://giveanhour.org/privacy-policy/

Give an Hour Terms and Conditions
Last updated October 1, 2026
https://giveanhour.org/termsandconditions/

Give an Hour Provider FAQ
https://giveanhour.org/provider-faq/

Give an Hour Mental Health Professional Network
https://giveanhour.org/providers/

Give an Hour Military, Veterans and Loved Ones
https://giveanhour.org/military/

Give an Hour Financial Fraud Support
https://giveanhour.org/financial-fraud/

Give an Hour Justice-Impacted Peer Mentorship
https://giveanhour.org/justiceimpacted/

Give an Hour District of Columbia Trauma Program
https://giveanhour.org/edrt/

Give an Hour Approach and Impact
https://giveanhour.org/approach/

Philanthropy Roundtable — Give an Hour Organizational Profile
https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/resource/give-an-hour/

ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer — Give an Hour
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/611493378

Peer Support Questions
peersupport@giveanhour.org

General Questions
info@giveanhour.org