TandC Associates, LLC

At this point in the discussion of Exclusion vs. Opportunity it is time to hear from those who have benefited from overcoming exclusions and taken advantage of the opportunities in each of the areas discussed.  There are many comments which could be cited, but the following will provide an understanding of what it means to the consumer to having access to these areas:

Employment
Rose:  “(Work is) interesting and it gets your life going.  It gives you responsibility and also makes you feel different, makes you feel that you can face the outside world.  And also, makes you feel that you are important. Important to your people, important to your friends, because you are earning money. You’re making your own penny, your own dollar bill, your own cent.  And when you walk into the store, you feel, well, I can buy this and I can buy that, because it’s your money, and it’s a wonderful feeling.”
Neil: “I began working less and less…I just stopped completely for 2 ½ years.  It was just a matter of not being able to function any more.  Employment is very important. People don’t realize this but as long as you are busy this is a great thing for the mind. It keeps your mind off a lot of other things that are really of no value.  The more time that you have to think, why of course, you can just retrogress, which isn’t very good.”

Social
Gertrude:  “I was 20 years in Rockland (Psychiatric Center).  I remember my first day at (the clubhouse). I didn’t look at anyone.  I didn’t talk to anybody.  Then they asked me to help out and I started to fix vegetables and get dinner. Now I help all the time. Now I’m used to people.”
Dorothy:  “From the start (at Fountain House) everyone called me by my name.  Both staff and members, people I hardly knew, called me Dorothy.  When you are homeless and on the street you never hear your name.  It was a privilege to hear it.  It felt good.”

Education                                                                                                                      Melissa:  “(I received) a letter from LaGuardia Community College.  I opened up the envelope and my jaw dropped – this was indeed an important letter. It congratulated me on making the dean’s list!  This was totally unexpected; it was something that I never even dreamed of receiving.                                                                             Yes, my academic work has been really good, but I thought that I wasn’t ‘smart enough’ to qualify for this unbelievable honor.  After all, I’ve been in-and-out of school since 2001 and have slowly built up credits.  As the old adage goes, ‘slow and steady wins the race’ and I have consistently succeeded.  The accolades are nice, but self-realization of accomplishments is invaluable.”

Housing
John:  “When I first came to Project Renewal’s Clinton Residence in 1999, I didn’t think it would be any different than the other hospitals and halfway houses I’d been in and out of for the past 15 years.  I had pretty much given up hope of ever feeling any better about myself or my life.  But the staff wouldn’t give up one me.  They kept trying different things and gradually things started to change… I started to feel a little less isolated, a little less hopeless.
About a year and a half ago, I started thinking about moving out of the Clinton and into a place of my own.  I moved to the third floor along with 4 other people who were also thinking about moving.  We learned to cook, and clean for ourselves, develop a budget and pay our own rent from the money that we had earned from our jobs.  I even made a few extra dollars babysitting for a friend in Queens on the weekends.
This past spring – I still can’t believe it – I moved into a studio apartment!”
John’s parents emphasized the significance of this development when they wrote: “In March of this year, John achieved one of his ultimate goals by moving in to his own studio apartment that he maintains by himself, something he would have been incapable of when we left for California six years ago.”
Reena (after many years in the hospital had this to say about the importance of a decent place to live): “My Fountain House apartment is one of the nicest places I’ve ever lived in: a living room, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.  I do most of my own cleaning and laundry, but a few times a week someone comes in and helps me.  On Sundays, I go back to my old neighborhood to go to church, but most of the time I’m happy just being home.”

Comments, additions, and questions on this or the previous Posts are welcomed either at the Comments section below or at tandcassociates@gmail.com.