From Displacement to Amazement
A story from the field.
This is the story of a mother and son who have discovered a new way to live and a Whole community that supports them.
As a recovery mentor and Peer Wellness Specialist, I have the privilege of working with a wide range of individuals seeking services and allowing my lived life experience to be of some benefit. I met Renee and Michael in June of 2023. They had been previously working with another Peer Support Specialist with MHAAO, and by happenstance, I acquired their referral. Originally, Michael was the main source of focus. He is a 23-year-old man who Measure 110, and those who work in the recovery and mental health field may consider to be an ideal candidate.
He was living on the bike trail, without any basic needs, suffering from active addiction, and battling with mental health that hindered him from accepting support or a path out of his current condition. His mother Renee equally had her own barriers and had also spent the last 5 years on the street and in and out of shelters. Her understanding that she didn’t want her son living in a state of hopelessness was what motivated her to contact MHAAO to refer Michael for BHRN services.
In the beginning, the only way to communicate and deal with Michael was through his mother. Michael, like many of us who know this way of life, developed mistrust for the system and other various forms of trauma. Throughout the attempts of Peer engagement for services with Michael, Renee accepted the fact that the best she could do was get herself stable and use these same services and support available to model the exact hope she had for her son.
Renee’s first decision was to get clean and allow referrals to be placed. She has a little dog, and this prevented her from going to the traditional detox centers. Instead, we had to do it old school and that meant getting her into an Ebed through Transcending Hope as her treatment plan at Another Chance Treatment Center was being designed. Another Chance was able to use the funding to move her into another sober living house while she engaged in treatment services. A new program for housing funding became available through 4D and she connected through their housing coordinator for a more long-term housing option. But the BHRN community partnerships didn’t stop there. Renee would receive assistance through Going Home 2 with yet another housing coordinator to work through application barriers and find an apartment that fits into the 4D program.
During this time Michael would find himself dealing with the Legal system. Through MHAAO’s partnership with Clackamas County Resource Center, P.O. Michelle Rickles allowed a reach-in to happen and coordinated release to inpatient treatment. Currently, Michael has been accepted into Mental Health Court and is clean and sober for the first time in his life. His mother has supported him in his journey as they reunite clean together working on solving one problem at a time.
It can be said it takes a whole community to help get people into recovery and arrest the disease of addiction and provide services for mental health. There are many community Organizations that go into supporting just a single person to accomplish this goal. There is no final destination or finish line. There is only progress and the people you meet on the journey. I am so grateful for the many BHRN partnerships involved with Renee and Micheal. If by chance you ever meet Renee or Micheal, you will see and hear a glow of gratitude from them they express so freely to everyone involved. But I always remind them that ultimately it is they who have done the work and every day they choose to be clean and sober will be met with an unexpected opportunity. I am just grateful for this wonderful organization that I work for which has allowed me to use my own past to be a part of something greater than myself and be a part of the miracles that happen every day like with Renee and Michael.