Pirates Perch aims to help students feel heard

Pirates Perch aims to help students feel heard

More than a bench: Students will see a friendly face to talk to

"They were partnering with seniors in their community to come and sit on various benches on their campus and talk with students," Wright said. "It combats the epidemic of loneliness for both the senior citizens and the students, having someone that they can talk to who's not clinical, not faculty - just someone who's going to be a listening ear for them that's not connected necessarily to any other parts of their lives."

Wright enlisted Amanda Murer '99, associate vice chancellor for alumni relations, to brainstorm the possibility of creating a program at ECU. They talked with the Student Government Association and Campus Recreation and Wellness, whose well-being ambassadors proposed the Pirates Perch name.

Volunteers, primarily local alumni and retirees, will undergo a background check and attend comprehensive, in-person training before signing up for a shift. They will be equipped with skills to engage effectively and compassionately and will know about resources for students who may need additional help.

"All in all, it's to just have conversation and to build that community and have a friendly face that the students will see," Murer said.

Signs with the Pirates Perch logo that simply ask, "Need to talk?" will be set up on a walkway next to the Kevin B. Suggs Memorial Bench, nestled in a shady area near Joyner Library and the Main Campus Student Center. The schedule will alternate days to cover class times throughout the week.

"We want to do it at a time where you're going to have high traffic and the students are out there walking by the bench, going to class, going to the buses, going to the student center for a bite to eat," Murer said.

The volunteers are not university healthcare providers or counselors, but they can be a starting point for conversation, Wright said.

"Sometimes students just need to see someone who's not in an official capacity, someone you're more comfortable sharing things with," she said. "You have no ties to this person, and you know that they're not going to go back and tell anybody you know."

Lloyd and Cille Griffith volunteered with Pirates Perch during its soft launch in the spring and plan to be back this fall.

"To me, it's life-giving to interact with them, especially when they confide in us something that's really on their minds and in their heart," Cille Griffith said. "We talk a little while and all of a sudden they gain confidence to share. The things that they share, they need to talk about.

"And taking this to another level, it's a sense of purpose," she said. "You feel a sense of purpose when a young person begins to confide in you and is getting your input. Trusting they're going to share with someone who is really listening and then trusting their response. So, it's life-giving to me in several ways."

Lloyd Griffith shares that same sense of purpose and looks forward to being on ECU's campus.

"There's so much positive, creative energy right here, and to be invited to come sit in the middle of it and be a part of it, is energizing to me," he said.

He commended the university on developing and providing this resource for students. "It's a friendly, easy place to share anything that's going on. It's a place you can talk with people who are just here to listen, who don't have an agenda with any department or any educational program," he said.

The Griffiths said it feels like they are at camp again. Lloyd Griffith retired as camp director at Camp Sea Gull and Cille Griffith at Camp Seafarer at Minnesott Beach. He previously directed Camp Becket in Massachusetts and she was a reading and language arts teacher.

They hope to see the Pirates Perch program grow.

"It means just as much to us as it does to them," Cille Griffith said. "I learn so much from them."

Being able to meet students where they are and foster well-being provides another valuable campus resource and touchpoint, Wright said.

"If they had someone that they could say, 'You know what? I was having a really bad day,' and that person just talks to them about it. Or if it's something really exciting that happened to them and they just want to share it," Wright said. "Just being able to connect with another human, that's what I'm really excited about."

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