This story was written by MJ St John with permission from Gary.

Gary has struggled with mental illness since he was a young child. He had trouble in school, finding it difficult to focus or concentrate. He knew he was different, but he did not receive any help at that time. To relieve his symptoms, he turned to drug use. Abuse of drugs is a common form of coping when you are not getting help or services.

Gary has lived at a MICA (Mentally Ill Chemical Abuser) house and then at an apartment in the Lexington Apartment Program. He left the apartment program to live with his brother and sister-in-law, which was not a good situation, and his mental illness was not addressed during that time. Three years ago, Gary went to the hospital for mental health help. While there, someone from Dominion House invited him for a dinner visit and asked him if he would like to come there to live. Dominion House is a crisis residence that offers individuals a safe place to stay as they stabilize. Gary was there for 4 months and then transferred to Emmanuel House (EH), a community residence.

While at EH, Gary was told it could take 3 to 5 years to achieve independence and stability, but he moved to the group home at 1574 Union Street in June 2024 after just 1.5 years. At 1574, Gary takes his medication independently and has one of the two available training apartments. Jesse, the Program Director of 1574 told me (while painting a flower pot for Earth Day 🙂) that he took the job with Mohawk in part because of the training apartments and the opportunity to witness real success in the lives of the clients living in them. Gary still comes upstairs for meals and socializing, but he has his space to get away. The purpose of the training apartments is to have the clients experience independence, see how they handle it, and eventually transition to the Certified Apartment Program or Supported Housing. I asked Gary, “What do you think is the secret to your success managing your mental illness?” Gary answered that it is the Mohawk Opportunities program and staff.

Life for Gary at 1574 is peaceful. He says the staff are great and always available to talk to. Gary is learning how to recreate how he thinks, to not let old patterns take over. Gary is very proud of the fact he has made so much progress and has been sober for 20 years. I can’t help but be proud of him as well, and I told him so.