From Peer to Guide: Deon Davis Helps Young Adults Find Their Footing at the Amplify Center

As the fall semester unfolds and young adults across Central Texas settle into their academic routines, the Amplify Center — a joint initiative of UT Health Austin and Austin Community College — is spotlighting the growing role of peer support in mental health care.

For Deaundra “Deon” Davis, a peer support specialist at Amplify, this work is deeply personal. Before joining the care team, she accessed mental health services herself, an experience that now informs every client connection she makes. By sharing her story and walking alongside young adults as they navigate challenges, Davis helps others build trust, set goals, and reconnect with their sense of purpose.

Davis played an early role in shaping Amplify’s direction as a board member and continues to help lead its mission today — combining her lived experience, academic journey, and advocacy work to create a more compassionate, person-centered system of care.

Q&A With Deon Davis

What path brought you to your work today, and what about that journey still shapes the way you show up in it?

Since I was a child, I wanted to be a doctor, but my path hasn’t been traditional. At 16, I experienced my first mental health crisis and started seeing a psychiatrist. That moment opened my eyes to how important access to care is and how overwhelming and confusing the systems around it can be.

Over time, I had to figure a lot out on my own: how to advocate for myself, how to navigate complex systems, and how to “adult” without much of a safety net. The grief and challenges I faced shaped me, but they also gave me a sense of purpose. I didn’t want that pain to be in vain, so I began looking for ways to share my story and raise awareness — especially around what it’s like for young people trying to balance school, basic needs, and mental health.

At Austin Community College, I saw students facing impossible choices, like paying tuition, or eating a meal. That reality pushed me to advocate for change and ultimately helped shape the Amplify Center in its early stages. As a board member, I emphasized the importance of affordable care and the value of peer support, because even a short mentorship in my own life showed me how transformative it could be.

That journey still shapes how I show up today: with empathy, persistence, and a commitment to making sure others don’t feel as isolated as I once did. And it’s also what’s keeping me on the path toward my original dream — to become a psychiatrist, combining clinical care with advocacy and peer-informed approaches to mental health.

What problem are you trying to solve, and how is your work moving the needle?

I’m working to solve the gap between what young adults need for their mental health and what’s available to them. Too often, they’re left to navigate complex systems alone — while also juggling school, work, and just trying to figure out adulthood. When basic needs go unmet, mental health can easily get pushed aside. That isolation only makes things harder.

I try to move the needle by bringing my lived experience into every space I’ve worked in: At ACC, I listened to students and pushed for solutions, like a student care center on campus. With the city of Austin, I helped shape the first food plan by highlighting community voices around food access. And at the Amplify Center, I pushed for peer support to be built into services from the start.

Now, in my role as a peer support specialist, I get to offer that support every day. I help young adults build community, advocate for themselves, and develop skills that support their mental health. Even small wins matter — whether it’s staying in school, connecting to care, or simply feeling heard. Those moments add up to something bigger: a more supportive system overall.

What’s something most people don’t realize about your field or about the way you approach your work?

Something most people don’t realize is that peer support isn’t just informal help. There’s structure and intention to it, and it plays a real role in mental health care. It draws on lived experience to build genuine, trusting relationships that can foster hope and self-determination.

Unlike traditional therapy, peer support doesn’t focus on treatment or diagnosis. It’s about mutual understanding, validation, and empowerment. It creates space for people to be heard by someone who’s been through something similar, which can feel grounding and motivating.

I see peer support as a bridge. It doesn’t replace clinical care, but it complements it — helping people navigate systems, connect to services, and build confidence in their own voice. For me, it’s about showing up with honesty and empathy so people feel less alone and more empowered.

You get to rename one thing in health care — a diagnosis, a role, a process — so it actually fits what it feels like. What do you rename, and what do you call it?

I would rename “suicide prevention.” In my personal experience, that phrase puts all the focus on the end result — death — when the real work should be on what comes before it.

Suicide is often the outcome of untreated, undertreated, overtreated, or overwhelming mental health challenges. Just like we don’t call it “death prevention” for cancer or heart disease, we shouldn’t frame this as if it’s only about stopping something at the very end.

I would call it “early mental health intervention and support.” That name focuses on where we can make the biggest difference: catching signs early, reducing stigma, building self-reliance, and creating community support systems. It reframes the process as one of connection and skill-building.

What about UT Health Austin and Dell Medical School sets a unique stage for your work?

The city of Austin creates a unique stage because there’s a clear gap in care for young adults. Too often, services are designed for children or older adults, leaving that 18-29 age-range isolated and underserved.

What I love about Dell Med and UT is their focus on community health and innovation. They’re rethinking how care is delivered — making it more integrated and accessible. The Amplify Center is a great example: therapy, psychiatry, peer support, and resource navigation, all in one place.

Deaundra “Deon” Davis

Deaundra “Deon” Davis is a peer support specialist at the Amplify Center, where she helps young adults navigate mental health challenges by drawing from her own lived experience. A passionate advocate for youth and community health, she’s helped shape programs across Austin — from campus-based support centers to the city’s first food plan. Davis studied at Austin Community College and is now pursuing a degree in philosophy at Texas State University. Her work centers on connection, empowerment, and building a more compassionate system of care.

To learn more about peer support or to connect with a provider like Deon, call 1-833-UT-CARES (1-833-882-2737) or visit here.