The Point After Club finally will have a home of our own on Monday January 26, it's certainly a milestone moment for a program that has been supporting members with mental health issues for 35 years. Yet another amazing milestone in our lives. I am so grateful to have found this place. I never knew about clubhouses until I walked into the PAC in 2010. The first person I met was Charlotte one of the staff members at the program. She had a very thick accent, she smiled at me. I remember telling her I wanted to go back to school. Little did I know how much she and the other staff, and the members of the club would change my life.
I am coming to the understanding of just how much this place and the people that support me mean to me. I respect them. I have gained a lot of knowledge about the clubhouse model and the mental health system in general. I wish I had never left when Charlotte was promoted and moved onto the Haverhill Club. I don't regret going to the Haverhill Club for a year. I came to acknowledge the fact that the Point After really does mean the world to me. It's my home away from home. I can talk to anybody there and they open their arms to me and care about me for me.
Yes I have been through a lot this year but I am better because I went back to the place that helped me grow from the very beginning. The Director is another person who has impacted my life in a positive way. He is a gentle personality, he doesn't judge. He listens, and he offers sage wisdom and advice whenever I seek him out. It is a true honor and privilege to know him. I am so lucky that he continues to see my growth. It's been almost 3 months since I left Haverhill and I am not looking back there. I am moving forward in my growth. I see positive changes. I had a job at Kohl's, I now work at Liberty Tax, I am hopeful that I can attain another college degree, things are going well, they can always be better. But there is no such thing as normal.
At one point 8 years ago I thought mental illness would never affect me. But guess what? It did. And in a way I am grateful because I met some life changing people who care about me, understand what its like and no I'm not the only one with a mental health issue. There are people who struggle more than me. I am lucky to have a roof over my head right now. Some people unfortunately aren't so lucky. I have amazing supports in my life. They know who they are. I don't need to name all the names. I need to work on some other things in my life. Its not a quick process. It takes time management and patience to grow. But life can change when you work on it in positive ways.
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