Getting My Own Address Guide

Why this Guide?

We are pleased to present "Getting My Own Address". The Guide is for adults receiving mental health services, their families and the people who advocate for and support them. Many of the individuals who contributed to the writing of this guide currently receive services. They understand the many challenges of taking two steps forward and one step back that is part of the recovery process.

If you are an adult who has lived with all the ups and downs of having a mental illness, and live with your family, or in a setting like a group home or an adult foster home, this Guide may be for you.

If you have considered living in a more independent housing situation, either now or in the future, this Guide can help you on that journey.

"Getting My Own Address" offers many options or paths that may lead to positive change in your housing situation. Achieving an independent living setting of your choice requires a great deal of responsibility. Moving from a family home or from a group home to another place with more freedoms might be more difficult than it first seems. It will be easier if you take small steps to reach your goals. You can find some of those small steps in this Guide.

This Guide can also be read by family members, friends, and professionals. It can offer you planning options and resources to help the people you support to move toward more independent living settings of their choice.

To Persons Receiving Mental Health Services:

A VISION FOR YOU

An important goal of this Guide is to touch on the issues of Hope in Recovery, especially as they relate to living more independently. Recovery without Hope can be very difficult. Hope can come in many ways. We want to offer Hope in knowing that taking more control over your life is possible. We want you to understanding that setting your own goals and making your own day to day living decisions can be very rewarding. Please know that the writers of this Guide BELIEVE IN YOU! We want to help you celebrate your independence right now, in whatever living situation that may mean.

The Man Who Found Hope

One day I was walking down the street.
I noticed a man sleeping alone on the ground.
I asked what he needed and he said,
"Love and Caring....And a place of my own to live in would help too."

The man on the street had a mental illness and lived in a group home.
He had friends in the home that he enjoyed.
But he had little choices in his life.
He had heard of places where he could have more freedom and independence.

I thought of Community Housing Network.
They helped people with disabilities find homes.
The people at CHN listened to the man's story and understood his desire for more freedom.
They gave him hope and worked with other programs to help the man prepare to be more independent.

Time passed and the man finally moved into a place of his own.
His dream had come true.
When others believed in him; his confidence in himself was restored.
And his faith and hope in God was strengthened.

There are many other people with disabilities like this man.
They also deserve and desire a life of greater independence and a place of their own.
Do you believe in them?

By Michael Nigro