Shawn Yancy, News4 anchor and Patricia Fantis, News4 senior producer for special projects
06 Jun, 2025
At 63, Robin Baxter was in limbo: homeless, moving between family and friends, with no real place to live.
“I just felt embarrassed,” Baxter said. “I didn’t really believe this was something that I was dealing with.”
But a quiet rooftop at Bernice Fonteneau Senior Wellness Center in Northwest D.C. changed all of that. With the help of the Friendship Bench, Baxter found support and companionship with retired D.C. teacher Angela Jasper.
“There are some visitors that just need someone to listen,” Jasper said.
Friendship Bench is a coalition of volunteers that provides a safe space to talk for people with mental health issues. The program originally began in Africa in 2006, when Zimbabwe native and psychiatrist Dr. Dixon Chibanda wanted to provide free mental health services to people in underserved communities after the death of a young patient.