A 58-year-old African American woman was having difficulty finding a housing on her fixed income. Mental Health PEER Connections staff helped her with information and referral, looking up multiple listings, giving her phone numbers to call, and applications to submit, and Peer Counseling to keep her motivated by providing emotional support during the process.
She had started to get frustrated that the search was taking her such a long time. Her situation was dire, as she was staying with people who liked to use drugs and party frequently; this would cause her stress, as she was trying to stay clean. Even though she would leave the house as soon as she awakened, and only came back to eat and sleep, the anxiety would make it difficult for her to fall asleep, and affected her emotionally. The insomnia and stressors caused her mental health to deteriorate and made her depressed. As the process dragged on, staff provided Peer Support to keep her focused on the housing search, helped her understand that most of her worries would cease when she settled into her own place, and gave her confidence that she would succeed. Now that she has her own place, she takes great pride in it, and feels much better emotionally, as she no longer must constantly deal with people she’d rather not be around.