InformHouston.com

HOUSTON — September 14, 2011 — MentorCONNECT, the first non-profit global online mentoring network for persons recovering or recovered from an eating disorder, was named as a Wellsphere Heath Impact Award winner.

Wellsphere, the fastest growing health and wellness technology company, grants this honor to organizations and individuals who strive to improve the lives of patients and people in their field. The criteria upon which contenders were evaluated for the award included providing support, conducting research, improving levels of care, raising awareness of a health issue, promoting prevention and proactive care, providing and supporting education, and demonstrating a drive to inspire and motivate others.

MentorCONNECT not only met, but exceeded the criteria in all of these categories. Since its inception in 2009, the organization’s membership has grown from 35 members to more than 1,800 members in 16 countries around the world. MentorCONNECT’s online community is safe, private, moderated and compassionate, and the organization’s leadership works continuously to provide a peer support network to support individuals who are fighting to recover from eating disorders, the deadliest of all psychiatric illnesses and one for which treatment and support resources are still largely inadequate to meet patient needs.

Members of MentorCONNECT can participate in a wide variety of individual and group mentoring-based activities including matching with a recovered person, or mentor, for one-on-one peer support. MentorCONNECT’s aim in offering each service the organization provides is to extend to recovering persons a level of continual, high quality peer support to keep motivation and courage high during the difficult process of recovery. In addition to support services for members, each month MentorCONNECT hosts a free teleconference series featuring nationally known recovery experts. This series is designed to reach out to the general community, family, friends and professionals to share more information about eating disorders.

MentorCONNECT also maintains an outreach website (www.eatingdisordermentoring.org) to share useful information about the low- or no-fee services of sister mentoring-based organizations which serve friends, family members, and health professionals.