RISE Housing and Support Services Residents are invited to share their experiences in the various RISE Programs at the Annual Board Retreat held each year in January. Lucinda, who had been a RISE Resident for two years, shared at the 2019 Retreat about how RISE helped obtain and maintain her mental health.
“Good evening,” Lucinda said, “I would like to take a brief moment to thank you for the invitation to this beautiful event.”
My name is Lucinda, and I am from Greenwich, NY. I grew up living with my mom and dad, and faced some challenges as a child. My mom physically and verbally abused me as a child.
In 2014, I started going to college at SUNY Adirondack to be a teacher’s assistant. During this time, RISE’s Care Management helped me by providing transportation to and from school. While attending school in 2016, I was given the opportunity to move to my friend’s parents’ home because I was promised a better way of life. Unfortunately, that did not happen.
I had a lot of anger, due to how I was being treated, and I realized I needed help. I was forced to put school on hold and on 1/13/2017, I moved into Rain House, RISE Community Residence.
While living at Rain House, I learned coping skills for symptom management, and how to maintain my medication regimen through medication management. I was there for five months, and then I progressed to the Progressive Steps Apartment Program (PSAP).
I have been in a PSAP apartment now for nineteen months. I have learned how to budget my money, be appropriately assertive with people, and I continue to learn how to handle my symptoms when they are on the high side. I am on the waiting list for Section 8 and RISE’s Supportive Housing Program.
My counselors and staff have been there for me in my times of need. Since living in a PSAP apartment, I have re-enrolled in college, and I have been on the Dean’s List. I volunteer at various community and school functions, which allow me to give back and pay it forward. I have completed my first semester, and will be starting my Spring Semester on 1/22/2019. I am majoring in Chemical Dependency/Substance Abuse to be a counselor.
Once again, I thank you for the invitation to speak tonight.
Update: as of 2021, Lucinda continues to live and thrive in a PSAP Apartment.