Those with mental illness find sanctuary at group homeThe older Melinda gets, the more mental illness seems to throw her life off course.
She's well aware she has several diagnoses, ranging from bipolar disorder to delusional thinking. Yet acceptance doesn't come easily.
When Melinda ran away from home at 18, she stopped taking her medication cold turkey.
Even though her parents tried to help keep her safe by paying rent for an apartment arranged by a mental-health organization, she put herself into harm's way. The landlord kicked Melinda out because of middle-of-the-night parties, damaged property and police visits.
Her parents were stuck paying rent on her empty room. They sold her computer to cover a small portion of the damage.
Melinda could have moved back to her family's comfortable home, but that would have meant taking her medication and following basic rules. For months, she chose instead to tag along with her homeless friends -- people who accept her for who she is because they also have mental illnesses -- and sleep at strangers' homes, homeless shelters, even on the street.
Her parents, Mark and Karen, often lost track of her whereabouts for weeks at a time. "We could give her the moon," her mother said, hurt and bewildered, "but she doesn't want it."
Last month, after a failed suicide attempt, Melinda finally came home and began taking her medication. "We are glad she is finally safe and stabilizing," her mother said. "But it is still no bed of roses."
And there's no telling what's around the corner.
Safe haven
When Lisa Uhlemann, assistant director at Casa Milagro in Santa Fe, hears stories like Melinda's, her jaw doesn't drop one inch. Such behavior is pretty typical, she said matter-of-factly.
Uhlemann holds out hope, no matter how messy a situation gets, because she knows people with mental illness go through phases and that treatment works if they choose it. Eventually, many tire of living on the streets, she said, and grow amenable to other options.
With classical music drifting through light-filled rooms and artwork on every wall, Casa Milagro is Santa Fe's only group home where adults with mental illness can find safety and friendship.
For some, it's their first time living away from their parents. For others, it's a break from living on the streets.
Right now, there's a short waiting list to get into Casa Milagro. But it could take six months or more for an opening because residents live at Casa Milagro as long as they wish.
Located on two acres past the city limits off N.M. 14, the group home offers 12 beds, exercise equipment, an art studio and a new, $2,000 garden out front, thanks to a gift from the Presbytery of Santa Fe.
It operates on a $285,000 budget under The Life Link, a local nonprofit. Residents pay $603 a month in rent, which comes from their Social Security Disability check.
Since Meryl Lieberman opened the home seven years ago, it has been a house of miracles, living up to its name despite lean financial times. One former resident, whose mandalas hang on the walls of Uhlemann's office, is in his third year of college studying computer graphics.
Residents also attest to how the mix of purposeful occupation (community work, college classes, meditation and artwork), as well as fitness, good nutrition, animal companionship -- and the acceptance they feel from each other -- fosters healing.
Jordan Kessler, 24, took a break from playing Star Wars Battlefront to explain what he was like just five years ago, before he moved into Casa Milagro.
He sat on his twin bed, his gaze fixed on nothing in particular, as the water in two fish tanks gurgled and his plump guinea pig, Magic, looked on.
At 15, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. It took a four-month hospital stay and a series of experiments with medications before the psychotic episodes quieted down. He was 19 by then, and his parents were exasperated. Kessler said the decision for him to move into Casa Milagro was mutual.
"It was like being thrown into a cold bath," he recalled.
The change was hard at first. But being surrounded by residents and staff who loved him and understood him brought him out of the dark, isolating hole of illness, he said.
Casa Milagro offers a balance of freedom and restriction, he said, so that he is able to gain independence without being totally independent. "It's like this huge growth of maturity and responsibility," Kessler said. "It's almost like having a second life, a new life."
Kessler went from 270 to 188 pounds, passed the General Educational Development test and enrolled in Santa Fe Community College, where he now studies computer science and writes essays about his struggles. He said living well with mental illness is 10 percent medication and 90 percent perspiration.
As a result of his transformed life, Kessler has built a better relationship with his parents. "Coming here has made our relationship tight, tight as it can be," he said. "I needed to grow."
IF YOU GO
What: Auction of art made by residents of Ca
May a smile follow you to sleep each night,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
and be there waiting,,, when you awaken.
Sincerly, Bill Vanderbilt
Mental Health And Political Forums Respectively
The following link will take you to a program that I gave up on once but, I am now involved with again. Simply because a few friends of mine believe so whole heartedly in this program that they actually kept me in it for several months.