Three and a half years ago, Arthur walked out of Hampton Behavioral Health Center to begin his journey to wellness and recovery. The psychiatrist referred him to the Oaks Integrated Care partial care day program for ongoing mental health support. Partial care provides adults living with mental illness with the support needed to prevent hospitalization and improve functioning in the community through counseling, case management and pre-vocational training.
The Program Coordinator quickly introduced Arthur to the Oaks jobs program designed to offer training and foster a sense of independence with the ultimate goal of transitioning into the workforce. Arthur explains, “They showed me all around the different areas of campus where I might work. I started out cleaning and maintaining the grounds and since I did such a good job, they asked me to help in the food pantry.”
The job coach noticed right away that Arthur excelled not just with tasks such as stocking shelves and packing food bags but also enjoyed interacting with others. Arthur shares, “I like seeing peoples’ faces when they receive a bag of food and I have the best co-workers. Coming to work is like spending time with my second family! They are always willing to lend an ear when I’m feeling down and seeing people smile makes me feel better.”
In addition to job training and group counseling, Arthur also obtained housing assistance. “It was the first step in restarting my life. I used to set up a lot of boundaries but I’ve learned that when you add in something good, you can discharge something negative from your box. I took out drinking and adding in independence. I took out smoking weed and added in new clothes. My closet now overflows! It taught me how to rebuild myself and took me away from relying on substances to cope,” he says.
Arthur also learned to cope better with depression and sadness with laughter. He shares with a smile, “Jokes help me get through the day. I tend to bottle things up and keep things inside. But I’m learning through therapy to let a little bit out at a time so it doesn’t all come out at once and overwhelm me.”
As the need for food increased during the pandemic, Arthur played a tremendous role keeping the pantry running smoothly. The pantry team knew that he was the best fit for the job long-term and hired Arthur full-time in November! He says, “Oaks helped change my life. I wanted more for myself when I started and today, I still want more. My peers from my program look at me now and are really happy for me. My advice to them is that if I can do it, you can definitely do it too.”
During the busy holiday season the food pantry team threw Arthur a 55th birthday party. He explains, “It was the first time anyone ever really celebrated me and it was very emotional. It took 55 years to get a birthday present. We had cake, ice cream and they even put up a birthday banner. They had no idea that I never had a birthday party before. They just took it upon themselves to do that for me because they cared. He added, “It’s a good feeling to wake up and say that I’m going to work. I am truly grateful to my colleagues for investing time in me and for believing in me. I can’t thank the Oaks program enough for pushing me to be my best self.”
