YMNH Team Members
Hannah Raiche, (Program Director & Youth Peer Support Specialist Supervisor) is a youth advocate with lived experience in the mental health system who is now working in the field of youth empowerment and engagement. Hannah’s lived experiences dealing with mental health struggles have made her into a passionate youth advocate and leader who is dedicated to ensuring that young people have access to the resources that they need to be empowered, healthy, and successful individuals. Hannah has years of experience advocating at the local, state, and national level for youth-driven systems change and redevelopment in order to better ensure that all young people are prepared to reach their fullest potential for positive outcomes and a successful future. Hannah’s work with Youth MOVE New Hampshire’s youth movement has given her experience in understanding and managing System of Care grant deliverables related to youth engagement, provided her the opportunity to gather youth perspectives and to share and infuse this collective youth voice at state level policy and planning committees related to children’s behavioral health, and has enhanced her skills in providing formal and informal support to other youth with lived experience.
Haley Heinrich, (Youth Peer Support Specialist & Coach) was the first to pilot the youth peer support specialist role within the Wraparound System of Care in New Hampshire. Haley has lived experience in the mental health system and also has a great deal of experience working with youth who have been involved in the mental health system. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in psychology, which furthered her knowledge about mental health. Haley has always been passionate about helping others, especially those struggling with their mental health, so she is well suited for this unique role in the mental health field. As a youth who felt she could have benefited from access to youth peer support herself, she gladly accepted this role because the core values of the position exemplified what she feels many youth could benefit from. Haley sees the importance in the values of youth peer support and especially in helping advocate for youth needs, youth voice, building resilience, having relatable experiences, and fostering hope for the future. In the youth peer support role Haley has seen the many positive outcomes in the youth receiving peer support, especially in their overall self-efficacy. Haley hopes to see the youth peer support program grow, and to have others recognize its importance and value. She feels that a strong emphasis on lived experience and the need for youth voice is key, as they are the experts of their own lives and offer crucial information necessary for successful mental health policy changes. Haley also wishes to see some of the youth who have received peer support potentially step into a peer support role, or another role that provides them an opportunity to use their lived-experience and advocacy skills to empower other young people.
Amber Goodrich, (Youth Peer Support Specialist YPSS) joined the Youth MOVE NH team in April of 2021. Here is a bit about Amber in her own words: Hello my name is Amber and I am a Youth Peer Support Specialist for Youth MOVE New Hampshire. I joined the team in April 2021 and have in my past and present also participated as a member of other youth advocacy groups such as the Youth Advisory Board, DCYF Youth Voices Summit, Peer Mentoring through River Valley Community College, and am a new member in the Youth Justice Steward Steering Committee that was developed through the Office of Child Advocate. I bring my own lived experiences to this role and some of those include living in foster care, residential placement, and struggling with mental health challenges; I feel that my experiences are a major asset in this role because they make me a strong and driven advocate for youth voice and choice in their own wellness and futures planning. I currently go to River Valley Community College to get my associates degree in Social Services. I am working to further my education so that one day I can become a Behavior Analyst. In my free time you can find me either dressing my cat in Hawaiian shirts or buying crystals and other pretty things at metaphysical shops. (I also love a good TJ Maxx haul!) Retail therapy aside, I feel like the most important thing to me throughout my life is to have hope and be heard as well as understood by other people and that's why I really feel passionately about my role as Youth Peer Support and why it is so beneficial.
Molly Mara, (Youth Peer Support Specialist YPSS) joined the Youth MOVE NH team in August of 2021. Here is a bit about Molly in her own words: "Personally having my own lived experience with mental health challenges, as well as experience in the public mental health system, is what has truly driven me to want to work within the human services field. I am newly graduated with my Associates degree in human services as well as a certificate as a Mental Health Support Worker. Although initially I was unsure of what degree I wanted to obtain, deep down I knew that I needed to be a part of a support system to others in my community. As a teen, I would have loved to have had a Youth Peer Support Specialist, which is why I am so excited to pursue this career! Through my journey, I have discovered that with the right plan in place, success is possible! I am very passionate about mental health and helping others within my community. I plan to continue my education, and obtain my Bachelor’s Degree in Child Psychology. I have a strong passion for helping other young people statewide to find connection, hope, reassurance, and success the way that I have. In my free time, I love playing Overwatch or RimWorld as well as relaxing with my fur babies! I love watching movies/tv shows like Star Wars, Marvel, Harry Potter, New Girl, and Rick and Morty. And, of course, my favorite season is: football season!"
Haley Winter, (Youth Peer Support Specialist YPSS) joined the Youth MOVE NH team in August of 2021. Here is a bit about Haley in her own words: Having lived experience going through the public mental health system, as well as having experience in the behavioral health field, is what motivates me to grow and, in turn, help others to grow as well. Having lived in an environment that more often than not, stigmatized mental illness/health, I understand the constant struggle that going out of your comfort zone and asking for help is. As I grew, I began to realize the importance of self-advocacy, healthy and effective communication, authenticity, and resilience. Pursuing a career as a YPSS has always been a goal of mine, as I truly wish that I had someone in my corner when I was a youth. With my experience with behavioral/mental health struggles, I have become a strong advocate for self-empowerment, and the realization that whatever someone may be working through, your mind matters! As I continue to use this philosophy, my passion to support others through their struggles grows every day. I am currently working on my bachelor's in criminal justice with a double minor in Forensic Psychology and Intelligence and Security Studies and hope to add Victim Advocacy to the list. I spend a good amount of my free time reading mostly Virginia Woolf, but really anything I can get my hands on as well as researching mythology and folklore from around the world.
Gibson Agonis, (Youth Peer Support Specialist YPSS) joined the Youth M.O.V.E. NH team in November of 2019. Gibson has lived experience in the foster care, residential placement, and mental health youth serving systems and has been a strong advocate for youth through her past partnerships with the Youth Advisory Board and New England Youth Coalition. Gibson has always been very passionate about working with people in the human services field and was very excited to join the Youth M.O.V.E. NH team! Her lived experience in various youth serving systems makes her well suited for this unique role in the Wraparound process, because she’s faced many similar challenges as the youth she works with are also facing and can help inspire hope in their own lives. Gibson has always been very passionate about working with people in the human services field and as someone who feels she could have benefited from receiving youth peer support services, she was very excited to join our team! Through her work, Gibson sees the importance of highlighting youth strengths, building resilience, allowing youth to share their voice, and fostering hope for the future! Gibson had been able to see, first hand, many positive outcomes relating to youth having access to youth peer support services. Gibson feels that the youth’s voice is key in their own success because no one knows them better than themselves and they’re the writers of their own story! Gibson hopes to see Youth M.O.V.E. NH continue to grow and hopes to further her own education so she may advance further into the human services field.
Julianna Chrostowski, (Youth Peer Support Specialist YPSS) joined Youth MOVE New Hampshire’s team in July of 2019, and works in the southern and central region of NH. Julianna is someone who has endured the ups and downs of mental health and takes pride in being able to share her experiences as a way to offer hope and proof that with time, help, and effort mental health challenges can be coped with and resiliency can be achieved. She demonstrates an understanding of the core values of peer support and feels fortunate to contribute to her youths’ successes and personal growths. A performance goal she has is to guide her youth in progressing towards self-advocacy, emotional regulation, productive communications, effective problem solving, healthy interactions, meaningful interpersonal relationship, independence, and a desirable wellness and wellbeing. Julianna’s individual practice is one that is authentic, provides a safe and trusting space, and allows for empowering opportunities for youth. She hopes to remain a part of Youth MOVE New Hampshire’s team and continue to strive as a Youth Peer Support Specialist.