The New Jersey Department of Health has partnered with Somethings to launch a peer support program for teens and adults ages 13-26 across eligible rural counties.
The partnership is focused on uninsured and underinsured young people who face barriers to timely mental health support. The program, now live, has already supported more than 300 young people across all 11 rural New Jersey counties and is on track to serve about 1,200 total during the initiative, according to a press release from Somethings.
The New York-based company operates a platform that provides clinically supervised peer mentoring through a mobile app. Users are matched with a mentor the day they enroll and can communicate through secure text messaging and video after school or in the evenings.
“This partnership means a teen in rural New Jersey who is struggling at 8 p.m. no longer has to wait weeks for an appointment or drive hours to find care,” said Patrick Gilligan, founder and CEO at Somethings. “They can connect with someone who understands them, right then.”
As part of the partnership, Somethings plans to hire 40 rural New Jersey young adults with lived experience to serve as certified peer specialists.
The partnership is funded under New Jersey’s Rural Health Transformation Program, a five-year investment by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that was awarded in December 2025. New Jersey received $147 million for the first year of the program.
