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 Valerie
Valerie
has been living with mental illness for almost half her life. For
seven years she lived at Mercer Inn, a group home for women, where
she was stable and took medication. When budget cuts closed the home,
Valerie was moved to a co-ed facility. Residents were forced to
double up on sleeping arrangements and staff were pushed to the
limits. Unable to adapt to the stress of her new, chaotic
environment, Valerie ended up on the streets.
When
Valerie arrived at DESC's emergency shelter she had not taken any
medication for some time. DESC staff got to know her and encouraged
her to reconnect with her former case manager at another agency. Too
disorganized, Valerie wasn't able to get to her appointments. She
was sleeping outside more and more often. Valerie was prioritized
for the next available apartment at Kerner-Scott House.
One
afternoon, Kylee, a DESC HOST outreach worker, found her, calmly
knitting by a fountain, her two shopping carts beside her. Kylee
offered her the apartment, describing it in detail. But Valerie
refused, stating that she was “taking care of the
babies” and had
to stay outside with them.
Soon
afterward, the outreach team was notified that Valerie had been
arrested on a warrant for trespassing. She was sent to Western State
Psychiatric Hospital for a 90-day competency restoration. It took
three of these restoration sessions before she was deemed able to
stand trial. During that time, Kylee visited her several times and
repeated the offer of housing. After over 300 days of incarceration,
Valerie was able to stand trial and plead guilty to a misdemeanor
charge.
Valerie
moved in to Kerner-Scott in January 2006 and the system is finally
starting to work for her again. With help from Kylee and others, she
has taken care of her outstanding legal issues and is diligently
taking her medication. She has settled in to her new place and has
been active in the building's community, attending movie nights, art
classes, field trips, meals and of course, knitting.
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