Recently, we talked with Immanuel, a program participant in ShelterCare’s Birch program, about his journey through the justice system and mental illness. We are excited to share his success story with you.
Immanuel explained how undiagnosed and untreated mental illness has been the main contributor to his homelessness, “I’ve been homeless for a long time, for years now. Something that’s really contributed to my not having a place to be stable is not knowing that I was dealing with mental health concerns before I was diagnosed, and being off my medications, where talking to the stars is more important than anything else.”
Parts of life that come easily to many are made very difficult by untreated mental illness, “I’ve struggled with housing throughout my life, due to inability to keep a job,” Immanuel said. He experiences co-occurring disorders, which add layers of difficulty to many day-to-day tasks. “I have an early childhood diagnosis of ADHD, so I’ve been living with that for a while, then 10 years ago, they diagnosed me with bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder, then, most recently, I’ve been diagnosed with autism as well. So I deal with a group of disorders that can make it really difficult to manage my day-to-day life,” he explained.
Immanuel has been experiencing symptoms and doing what he could to manage them himself, with no support, since he was a kid: “When my mother met my stepdad, she kind of abandoned me at the house for like six months. I’ve been getting into trouble since then, when I was 15 years old. I have an extremely long criminal history that is a reflection of me dealing with mental health without the proper outlets. It’s kind of unsettling to see that if I would have gotten help like this earlier in life, I wouldn’t have such a lengthy criminal history. When I started getting in trouble, I started messing with drugs to self-medicate.”
The cycle of being in and out of hospitals and jails started at a young age for Immanuel and was difficult for him to break, “Normally, what happens is I’ll be stabilized for like a month or two, stop taking my meds, make a poor decision in the community, go to jail, then get out. It’s a very vicious cycle that I’ve gone through, but between the ShelterCare program and the ACT team, I’m working on breaking the cycle,” he said.
ShelterCare’s Birch program serves those who have been deemed unable to advocate for themselves in court due to a mental illness, so participants are required to receive behavioral health treatment while in the program. One organization we partner with for these services is Laurel Hill, which runs Assertive Community Treatment (ACT).
Immanuel receives multiple layers of support this way, including a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) to prescribe medications, nurse, mental health therapist, substance abuse specialist, employment specialist, housing specialist, case managers and, “I have like three Peer Support Specialists because I have two from the ACT team and one from the ShelterCare team,” he said.
Sometimes individuals in our programs need a couple of chances to become stable, but it is worth it when it finally sticks. “This is actually my second time in the program. The first time, I was sent to the hospital, and then I was released from the hospital back to the jail and ShelterCare took me out of jail and put me into the Birch program, where I lived for a little while. I got my own apartment, and then I had a couple weeks off my medication again and messed up and went back to the hospital, back to jail, and now I’m in the Birch program again,” explained Immanuel.
He explained how important it has been for him to learn about his mental health conditions and receive treatment, “I’ve been dealing with mental health conditions my whole life, I’m just recently starting to become more aware of them and finding more ways to manage them. Zelima helps a lot with helping me stay on top of my medications and appointments.”
Zelima is the Lead Case Manager in ShelterCare’s Birch program. She told us about Immanuel’s progress through the program, “Immanuel has amazing insight into all his things, which is pretty rare, and is very independent, so we aren’t doing a whole lot, just getting through the program and finding a way to make sure it sticks. That’s our big goal, as well as finding housing and making habits to stay the course,” she said.
Immanuel is the most stable he has ever been. “This is the first time I’ve been stable for a year, so I’m feeling pretty good about it, and I’m just trying to maintain that at this point. My goals for the future are to find housing, which I’m pretty optimistic about,” he said. Since our interview with Immanuel, we received an update that he moved into his own apartment!
“Dealing with mental health, and not knowing you’re dealing with mental health, can be very difficult because you feel something inside of you, but you don’t know what it is until they diagnose you,” said Immanuel. Your donation will help us continue providing support to individuals like Immanuel, who are learning how to navigate the world with co-occurring mental illnesses. Will you change a life with us by donating today?