Community Currents - Continued

Living the Dream

By PWDF Staff

During the late 1960s, there were very few effective psychotropic drugs, which meant that living a life in and out of hospitals was more realistic than living a full and meaningful life. It wasn't until Roy moved from Kansas to California that he received salvation in the form of Medi-Cal, which allowed him to choose a psychiatrist who could work with him on a long-term basis. "Dr. Carfagani never told me 'no,'" Roy recalls. "He said, 'Let's find what works for you,' and I think that kind of set an attitude for me where I could move from a very suicidal, depressed state to a place where I could begin to function again."

Like most people who have a "dual diagnosis" of drug dependence and mental illness, Roy faced numerous hurdles. "I used a lot of street drugs, but the reason I used street drugs is because all the other medications sedated the hell out of me and I didn't want to be sedated. I wanted to feel like everybody else. I wanted to be happy, I wanted to be cheerful, and I wanted to work.”

Ultimately, it was his struggles with the Social Security Administration and General Assistance offices that set the stage for him to become a peer counselor. "I felt like I was totally on my own, and I didn't feel like my 'brothers and sisters' should have to be alone, too." So, over the next couple of years, Roy went to the Social Security offices to help people with their paperwork and field questions. He realized that, to assist others, he would have to clean up his own act. A major turning point came during a visit to the Independent Living Resources Center (ILRC). Carol Patterson, a former program coordinator at ILRC, now a consumer liaison at the Berkeley Mental Health Clinic, overheard Roy talking to a benefits counselor and was riveted by his method of drawing answers out of her. "He was so engaging," Carol recalls.

Recognizing his potential as an advocate, Carol suggested that he train as a peer counselor and became his mentor. Roy remembers half the class dropping out during the first couple of weeks of the 13-week training program. He told the remaining few, "We have to stay because we are seeing peer counseling in motion. We are seeing what was supposed to happen to us, and how you work with a person who is devastated in their lives and how you help them turn it around so that they may feel like they’re making decisions that affect them."

After passing the course, Patterson suggested that Roy work in the HIV unit at San Francisco General Hospital. "Peer counseling is listening. It's paraphrasing to make sure that what you think you heard is what you are hearing and is what the person means. It is also just being there for the person. Sometimes, they just want you to sit down and really listen, and they want to be heard."

After four and a half years of working in the HIV unit and Psych Emergency ward, Roy began dreaming of ways to open his own drop-in center. Once again, Carol Patterson stepped in and sent Roy to meetings, where he eventually ended up being appointed to the Mental Health Board by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and was immediately named the Chairperson of the Planning and Policy Committee. "It was one of the most bizarre committee meetings I have ever been to," Roy fondly recalls.

Before long, conversations with various people led to discussions on a wide variety of issues pertaining to community-based programs. Those dialogues eventually led him to ask for office space, then computers and basic office necessities, then salaries. "I got a salary amount for a director's position, and the purpose of that position was to organize people. I created what the position would look like and created what the requirements would be."

With job titles and descriptions firmly in place, Roy interviewed against other qualified candidates for the job he dreamed of. "I remember freaking out and thinking, 'Oh, no, somebody else is going to get the job and this is my dream,' but I also realized that, if you have a dream, you can create it, and these other people come in and it becomes their dream, too." Fifteen years later, he is still helping people realize their dreams.

The Office of Self Help is an advocacy program that caters to a clientele with a full spectrum of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, severe depression, bipolar disorder and suicidal ideation. It provides peer counseling, support lines, information and referrals. There is an education center, a computer lab, and support groups for culturally specific groups such as Asian/Pacific Islanders, African-Americans, and LGBT (or, as explained by Mr. Crew, GLTBI for Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Bisexual, Intersex.) There is even an art group. However, the largest constituency is the dual-diagnosis group that receives one-on-one services from a trained staff of peers. In this group, the overwhelming majority have been clean and sober for more than ten years. Open seven days a week, it is a place where people can just go in and hang out. Roy says the idea is to help people transition from where they are to where they want to go.

When asked what the most pressing issue in mental health is, Roy says, "Retraining clients that getting diagnosed isn’t the end. We have to teach clients that they can dream again and that most of their dreams can come true. And we have to teach clients that they can work again and then help them figure out what all the load of documents from Social Security mean and what their benefits are. We are inching our way toward that kind of concept."

The battle to change perceptions about mental illness is not over, but, for Roy Crew, he is living the dream.

PWDF Profile

Who We Are

People With Disabilities Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California, which focuses on the rights of the mentally disabled.

Services

Advocacy: PWDF advocates for Social Security claimant's disability benefits in eight Bay Area counties. We also provide services in disability rights, on issues regarding returning to work, and in ADA consultations, including areas of employment, health care, and education, among others. There is representation before all levels of federal court and Administrative Law Judges. No one is declined due to their inability to pay, and we offer a sliding scale for attorney's fees.

Education/Public Awareness: To help eliminate the stigma against people with mental disabilities in society, PWDF's educational program organizes workshops and public seminars, provides guest speakers with backgrounds in mental health, and produces educational materials such as videos.

Continuing Education Provider: State Bar of California MCLE, California Board of Behavioral Sciences Continuing Education, and Commission of Rehabilitation Counselor Certification.