“Living in RISE Housing Programs – Rain House and PSAP – gave me the opportunity to heal.”
“From homelessness and isolation to vitality” is the theme of Robert, a Progressive Steps Apartment Program (PSAP) resident’s story. He proudly shares how housing programs at RISE Healthy Housing and Support Services helped him regain his life.
Robert holds a Master’s Degree in Engineering from Rensselear Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and has worked as a plastics engineer and later as a Chemistry Instructor at Adirondack Community College. However, after years of struggling with his mental health, he eventually became unemployed, homeless, and eventually withdrawn from society.
He was referred to the RISE community residence, Rain House where staff worked with him predominantly on socialization skills. Rain House provides a safe, supportive, and home-like environment to men and women with mental health diagnoses. The program provides 24-hour supervision to residents who participate unique programming designed to assist them in attaining individualized goals in several areas.
“The Rain House staff helped me rekindle my interest in baseball which motivated me to leave my room.”
“It was slow going,” Robert recalls. “When I first moved to Rain House it was a struggle to want to be around others. All I wanted to do was stay in my room. The Rain House staff helped me rekindle my interest in baseball which motivated me to leave my room to watch games on the television in the common areas of the house where I began to interact with other residents.”
Rain House staff helped him feel comfortable being around others both at the house and in his groups at Saratoga County PROS where he began attending treatment.
The next summer, when Robert moved into his PSAP apartment, he continued to work on his socialization skills and worked up the courage to venture out into the community. He explains, “it was because of my work with my PSAP Counselors, that I was able to join the Saratoga Senior Center and participate in the walking group which I greatly enjoy.” Robert says he was pleased to find some of the peers who he had befriended at Rain House in the walking group.
“Robert is well-mannered and kind, with such a quiet demeanor and he sure has a great sense of humor.”
Michele LaMontain, his previous PSAP Counselor, speaks of him with fondness, “Robert is always interested in recreations offered by TSA and other agencies like the Senior Center. He is smart, well-mannered and kind, with such a quiet demeanor and he sure has a great sense of humor.”
Erin Clark, his current PSAP Counselor says, “Robert consistently demonstrates strong leadership qualities and is a positive influence on his peers in the program. Robert is always setting new goals and working earnestly towards attaining them.”
In addition to socialization, Robert has worked on diet, nutrition, meal planning, and budgeting while in PSAP. Erin elaborates on his level of engagement in the program, “Robert is the epitome of a success story and the values we stand for. It has been a pleasure being able to work with him.”
Robert’s story is one that many individuals struggling with mental health diagnoses share. He was living a full life, engaged in the community, and developing his career, when his mental health issues caused him to withdrawal to the point that he found himself unemployed and homeless. He shares that while he attempted to manage his mental health diagnoses with treatment and medications, it all became too overwhelming.
Thanks to the assistance he received while in housing programs at TSA, Robert is reengaged in life.
Robert is now ready for retirement and plans to spend his days watching baseball, reading the news, and following politics. Robert continues to attend groups at the Saratoga County Mental Health Clinic (via Zoom since the COVID-19 Pandemic). He says he is looking forward to resuming his walking group and other activities at the Saratoga Senior Center once they re-open.