In 2011, Joy’s husband passed away in his sleep from a heart attack. They had been together for 18 ½ years. Prior to his passing, they were living on his disability, so when he died, Joy had no income. Joy sold what she could to try to keep her home and later tried to stay with friends. Eventually, she began living in her car, at the local Walmart parking lot. During this time, Joy was seeing a psychiatrist to address symptoms from her bipolar and depression. Her psychiatrist put in a referral to Volunteers of America Florida’s Sebring Program.
Joy was able to move out of her car and began living in VOAFL housing. Joy states, “If it hadn’t been for that, I probably wouldn’t be here today.” Joy is thankful for the one-on-one case management services, the group meetings, and the support from her Independent Living Coach. Joy blamed herself for her husband’s death but the services she received from VOAFL helped her to realize it was not her fault and allowed her to stop feeling guilty. As a participant, she was approved for Social Security Disability and saved funds to be able to leave VOAFL housing and live on her own and later successfully discharged from the program. Joy was excited to move and allow the unit to be available for someone else in need. Joy learned from VOAFL the importance of continued mental health care, now has a better understanding of her diagnoses and how to cope and to not blame herself for the uncontrollable. For Joy, mental health was never discussed growing up, so she feels that her support and education received on mental health has helped her to help others and herself.
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