The Awakenings Program received a referral for a woman named Patsy. Patsy was recently taken advantage of by a family member, who used her for housing, food, and financial support without providing any assistance for Patsy. In addition to living in low-income housing, Patsy has several health issues, and struggles to pay her bills. The family member that has taken advantage of Patsy has a history of struggling with addictions and mental illness. He has a history of arrests, being incarcerated and is not able to see his children unless supervised by Children’s Services.
Patsy has been able to get the family member to leave her home, however she was left with very little food to eat for the remainder of the month due to being taken advantage of. Awakenings assisted her with groceries and counseling to begin her recovery from the exploitation. Patsy continued to struggle with her relationship with her family member as he often would threaten to keep her grandchildren from her if she would not allow him to come to her apartment. On the last visit this family member made to her apartment, he stole Patsy’s monthly debit card leaving her with nothing to pay her bills for the month.
The Awakenings program was able to assist Patsy with completing police reports, working with her landlord to be able to remain in her home, connecting to community resources for extra assistance and with counseling to continue her recovery. In addition, the Awakenings Program assisted with groceries to help her through the month and placed her name on the Area Agency on Aging 3’s Angel Tree to help her get additional items for her apartment such as new linens and a vacuum cleaner.
With Counseling and the Awakenings Program, Patsy has continued to grow stronger. She is now able to set boundaries with her family members and find appropriate ways to see her grandchildren. With counseling she is continuing to work on goals of improving self- esteem and not placing the blame on herself for other people’s choices.
Story Written by:
Alisha Harper, LISW
Care Coordinator
*Names have been changed for protection and privacy.