Friendship Bench in Athens, Ohio
Implemented in partnership with the Athens City-County Health Department and Ohio University. Partner since 2022.
WHAT FRIENDSHIP BENCH IN ATHENS, OHIO IS
The Athens Friendship Bench began after a 2020 Community Health Assessment found isolation to be the single most reported concern among Athens County residents. In May 2022, Friendship Bench trainers from Zimbabwe traveled to Athens to train the county's first 4 Community Health Workers with funding through the Ohio Health Improvement Zones Pilot Project. The program launched that November and now runs out of eight community locations, including five public library branches (Athens, Chauncey, The Plains, Nelsonville, and Glouster), the Athens Community Center, The Gathering Place, and the Health Department itself. CHWs offer free, scheduled appointments or drop-in problem-solving conversations, and track each Visitor's emotional intensity on a simple 7-point scale before and after. Two additional trainings in 2025 alone brought 75 more community members to deliver the model.
DELIVERED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ATHENS CITY-COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT & OHIO UNIVERSITY
The Athens City-County Health Department is a combined general health district serving all of Athens County, Ohio, with a mission to protect and promote the health and wellness of every resident. Its partner, Ohio University, is the county's largest employer and educates roughly 20,000 residential undergraduates in Athens — nearly a third of the local population.
"Loneliness is as harmful to our bodies as smoking 15 cigarettes a day." — Olivia Degitz.
850
sessions since November 2022
8
community locations across Athens County
More than
80%
of Visitors report improved emotional intensity after their visit
75
community members trained by 2025
One visiting partner organization summed up their tour of the Athens sites in a single word: the Chauncey librarian called the Friendship Bench "transformative."
Featured Story — "A program that reaches beyond the bench"
What sets the Athens programme apart is what happens after the conversation ends. CHW Evelyn was moved by what she heard on the bench to run for local office as village mayor, carrying community concerns directly into local government. At one library branch, a high school student invited a peer to talk things through on what the two of them nicknamed the "Acquaintance Bench" — a sign that the model's core idea, that anyone can learn to listen well, spreads naturally between neighbors and even between teenagers, without formal training. One visiting partner organization summed up their tour of the Athens sites in a single word: the Chauncey librarian called the Friendship Bench "transformative."
.png)
Interested in bringing Friendship Bench to your community?
Through the Friendship Bench In A Box toolkit, Friendship Bench Global supports organisations around the world to adapt and implement the model in ways that respond to their local context. Many partners in the US and other countries, are already using the platform to strengthen community mental health.