Honoring the Work & Life of Susan Preffer

It's with a sad heart that we share news of the passing of our friend Susan Preffer. For over 10 years Susan was the peer coordinator of the CommonGround Decision Support Center (DSC) at TCV Mental Health Center in PA. Susan had the distinction of being a champion of the the second DSC in the U.S which has been continuously operating for 10 years (since March 2008). 

I visited Susan many times and was always so impressed with how she continuously came up with novel ways to keep peers engaged and excited about their time in the DSC. It's not easy to keep an innovative, peer-run DSC going in the midst of so many competing priorities in a clinical setting. Susan gave a speech about the key to success and said:

The challenge before us then was how do we nurture enthusiasm? How do we stay faithful? How do we strive for fidelity? What next? You know what? All things come together when focus moves to our peers! 

Sage advice for us all. Thank you Susan. We celebrate your life and legacy.