Caroline is 50 years old, lives in an apartment, has a phone, food, furniture and even cable TV. It may not seem like a lot but for her it is.

Just two years ago Caroline lived in an abandoned garage behind an empty house. She has multiple health problems. Caroline suffers from bipolar disorder, major depression, ADHD and alcoholism. After her partner of 30 years died, Caroline who was unable to work ,was evicted from her home. She couldn’t pay for medication, and now she had no place to live.

Desperate – she bounced from friend to friend and then she found the garage. She searched the alleys and found a carpet and some pillows. This became her home for five months. But this was no way to live, Caroline knew that much, and she decided there was no reason to live. She wanted to end her life.

A friend saw that Caroline looked ill and took her to the hospital where she was admitted, evaluated by a psychiatrist and started back on medication. The hospital referred her to Jay Roth, New Foundation Center’s Director of Residential Services, who helps people with mental illness find housing. Jay told Caroline that he might be able to find her a place to live in the scattered sites housing program—housing that is dedicated for people with mental illness who are homeless.

Working with other staff, Jay was able to find a place in the northern suburbs where Caroline could live. Together they worked and arranged for Caroline to see a psychiatrist, a medical doctor, and a dentist. She got a bus card so she could get around and they found some household items to furnish her apartment.

Caroline Phillips - New Foundation Center member

What is Caroline’s life like today?

“I am happy. I feel safe and I’m getting to like myself—to feel confident. I have not felt this good in years”, says Caroline.

Her goal is to get a new knee so she can go back to work in customer service or cashiering. With the right combination of medication, housing, and services she will.

However, with continued state budget cuts and staffing shortages,
Caroline faces an uphill battle to hold on to what she has gained. The vital services that helped her achieve a safe and secure living situation remain under-funded and always in danger of being cut.

Caroline is not alone, thousands like her around the state are at great risk of losing the supports needed to prevent them from becoming seriously ill and homeless. The danger for Caroline is real, “I won’t be able to handle living in the streets alone again. I am really afraid of becoming another statistic because I’m too tired to go through that again.”

New Foundation Center’s supportive housing program currently assists 49 individuals like Caroline, by providing housing with supports to maintain recovery and helping people to find a job. Support services include help with medication, seeing a doctor, attending a recovery group, a ride to the grocery store, assistance with budgeting and more. These services are affected by state cuts.

“Because the need is so great we want to obtain more housing slots for people with mental illness,” states Sue Shimon, executive director. She adds, “We recently secured a $50,000 project initiation loan from the Corporation for Supportive Housing to finance development costs to purchase and operate a 20 -24 unit apartment building for people with mental illness, some of whom are homeless.”

The need for supportive housing for people with disabilities continues to grow and with careful planning and collaborative support from government and private funding it can be met.