I have so much to be grateful for. Grateful and thankful. After being homeless for 6 years then through police intervention I was put in the environment where recovery was possible. At the time I didn’t like being locked in the psychiatric hospital and that is where I needed to be. While in the psychiatric hospital I began recovering. My health improved and I was transported to a different psychiatric care treatment center where I continued to recover. At the second psychiatric care treatment center I was told that I can leave when ever I want. It didn’t make sense to me at the time. I still had a lot of recovering to do. During the day I participated in group therapy sessions, ate three hot meals a day, exercised, got fresh air outside, read books, watched TV and was able to keep to myself when I didn’t want to be around other people. I stayed inside the treatment center and went outside only on the treatment center property.
A representative with Social Services contacted me while I was recovering at the treatment center. I was told that I got to choose where I would go when I was scheduled to leave.
There were two options available for me. At the time I had no posessions other than the clothes I wore and a backpack with supplies in it for living outdoors. I had no money and no savings then.
The treatment center was located in Grants Pass Oregon. I knew nothing about Grants Pass and knew no one in Grants Pass other than the other patients I met while I was in the treatment center and the members of the staff.
I had never visited Grants Pass before being placed in the treatment center and for this reason I did not know my way around the community.
There is a foster care Mission for adult men in Grants Pass that gave me an invitation to live at their Mission. The Social Services representative scheduled a time when I could take a tour of the Mission and met me at the treatment center then drove me to the Mission and went on the tour with me.
I didn’t want to live in the Mission and told the Social Services representative. The representative with Social Services had one more option for me.
There was a foster care Mission for Adult men and women in Medford that gave me an invitation to live at their Mission. The Social Services representative scheduled a time when I could take a tour of the Mission in Medford and met me at the treatment center then drove me to the Mission in Medford and took the tour with me.
I liked the Mission in Medford and could see myself living there. I had more recovery to do. I was told that I could move to the Mission in Medford but first I had to have the warrant for me dropped. I needed to go to the Jail in Medford and have my fingerprints taken before they could drop the warrant.
Soon enough the day came when I would be released from the treatment center. The Social Services representative met me at the treatment center and before I was released a member of the Staff gave me a care bag with things I would need that included a supply of my prescribed medication and toiletries and snacks.
The Social Services representative drove me to a motel in Medford and paid for a room for me for one month. The next day the Social Services representative met me at the motel and drove me to a pantry that donated food to me. Then the Social Services representative drove me to a Good Will Store where he helped me buy some cooking equipment to use with the microwave in the motel room. The motel room had a minifridge where I kept the perishable food.
I had a food benefit card and a library card and during the day I bought a few snacks at a Store near the motel and walked to the Public Library where I looked at books and found one I liked and checked out.
I had been in a psychiatric hospital and then in a psychiatric treatment center for three months and not used to making my own schedule and having a place to stay and being able to stay and leave when I choose. My prescribed medication was helping me a lot and I still had recovery to do. I was not used to having my own room and kitchenette and bathroom all to myself.
I was not used to feeling safe and secure and having privacy at the same time while inside.
These days I rent an apartment in Medford Oregon. I went back to work part time. I have a pet therapy dog and I schedule appointments with a therapist when I want to. I live in a safe residential neighborhood several blocks away from a hospital and shopping centers. I have a car and I buy groceries and do all the errands I need to on my own.
I’ve gone on several vacations since getting back into housing. I flew to Colorado and then to Florida where I rented a car and drove to my families home to visit. The beach was wonderful. Then I flew back to Colorado and rode a bus to the community where my family lives and they picked me up at the bus station. I stayed with family in Colorado and enjoyed being in my home town knowing I had a good home to go back to in Oregon. I flew back to Oregon and picked up my car at the airport parking lot in Medford, paid for parking and drove home. Then I picked up my dog from the woman I hired to pet sit while I was away and brought my dog home.
I remember during my month stay at the motel in Medford several days after I checked in I was visiting the Public Library and logged in at a Public Computer where I did a search online for where in Medford I could go to pick up more medication in my prescription.
I walked to the Jail and got my fingerprints taken. The rest of the time during that month I stayed in the motel room a whole lot. It was June 2021 and the hottest recorded day in Medford in late June. The warrant was dropped.
It was July 3rd and I was ready to leave the motel the next morning. I checked out at the front desk and my mom met me at the motel and drove me to the Mission. The Mission office was closed July 4th and I had already checked out of the motel. My mom drove me to a different motel and paid for a room for me where I stayed the night.
The next morning I checked out of the motel and walked to the Mission. It had been 4 months since I walked that far and my backpack was filled with my things. I remember the backpack feeling very heavy under the hot July sun rays.
At the Mission office a member of the Staff met me and began my orientation meeting where I agreed to treat everyone with respect and respect the property and participate in the daily bible study courses and go to church services every Sunday, and do chores every day to help keep the Mission clean. I agreed to all the rules that included I would stay celibate and not seek employment and not work and that I would check out at the desk before leaving the property and indicate when I would return before leaving and that I would be back on the property every night by 8pm and that I would stay on the property in the men’s dorm room on the bed every night while I was a resident of the Mission.
I just got back home a few minutes ago. I have the day off work. I drove across town to a restaurant that makes delicious made to order sandwiches. I ate a lettuce turkey cranberry jelly croissant with a pickle spear on the side and salt and vinegar potato chips at a table. The restaurant was busy and the meal was spot on.
I continued recovering at the Mission. I volunteered in the kitchen and helped prepare meals for the residents and the staff. The dining area welcomes the Medford community to eat a free dinner at the Mission every night of the week. I stayed at the Mission for almost 6 months. While I was in adult foster care my mom helped me apply for SSDI. While waiting for an answer from Social Security I continued to volunteer in the kitchen and participated in bible study every day and went to church services every Sunday. Sometimes I would leave for the afternoon and my mom would pick me up outside the Mission and we’d eat lunch at a restaurant. I enjoyed visiting the Public Library during the day.
One day I received a response to my application with Social Security for SSDI. I was awarded SSDI. Before I was homeless I worked as an employee for many years since I was 15. Because I paid taxes on my income since I started working and because a Psychiatrist diagnosed me as having schizophrenia I was awarded money from SSDI. My award from SSDI enabled me to buy a car. I started receiving monthly payments from SSDI. I had enough money to move out of the Mission, out of adult foster care and out on my own.
Very many men women volunteers and health care workers made the life I live possible. People I did not know donated food, water, medicine, and shelter. People volunteered their time working hands on with homeless people I was one of. People with financial wealth donated money to charities I benefited from.
I have many blessings. Life is good.
After the warrant was dropped a court date was scheduled for me to be present at. An attorney was assigned to my case free of charge because I could not afford to hire an attorney. There was a back log of cases ahead of me and my court date kept being postponed. During this time I met with the Attorney who was defending me several times in his office to prepare his defense.
The day finally came when I was scheduled to be present in court and the Judge had time to hear my case. In court I had an opportunity to apologize to everyone present for the crime I was accused of and I apologized. The Judge told me what I could not do in the future and that I was being placed on bench probation.
I was ordered to meet with a psychiatrist regularly and a therapist regularly for as long as they required. I was told that I needed to take my prescribed medication for the rest of my life. I agreed with everything the Judge ordered and told me to do. I have been taking my prescribed medication every day since my rehabilitation began. I went to every scheduled meeting with the psychiatrist and the therapist for as long as they wanted me to.
I’m not from here. I’m from Colorado, half way across the country from Oregon. I was homeless for two years when I arrived in Oregon and remained homeless in Oregon for four more years before police intervened and put me in the psychiatric hospital environment where I began to recover.
Since I moved to Oregon to be closer to my family who were living in Oregon and the North West while I was homeless, they all moved away to the Eastern Coast of United States. I have a large family and they all live very far away from Southern Oregon.
I met few people while I was homeless and did not make friends with other homeless people. I knew no one in the North West other than my family before I arrived in Oregon.
Being in a new to me community is a blessing because where I’m from in Colorado the people I called friends where all bad influences on me. They were either selling illegal drugs or doing illegal drugs or both and I was an addict. My addiction to illegal drugs was a major reason that led me to homelessnes.
In Oregon I don’t know anyone outside of work and Church and where I’ve volunteered. I knew a woman I dated for two years since getting back into housing. I haven’t seen her in over a year and that is fine by me. It wasn’t meant to be.
I completed bench probation and after four years of good behavior my legal record is expunged.
My background check comes back clean and clear. An Employer can hire me and I can compete in the work force with the best of them.
It’s good to be me. It’s good to play by the rules. Life is good
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