Page 18 - Success Story Newsletter Spring 2018

Pictured above: Dawn, an Easterseals participant

Darkness Before Dawn

On March 5, 2018, Dawn arrived at the Easterseals Stratford House for individuals living with
mental illness. Prior to finding Easterseals, Dawn was living in a homeless shelter for six months
and had been unemployed for over 11 years as a result of her own personal mental health
struggles. After she moved into one of Easterseals’ monitored residences, she gained access to a
stable housing environment and trained support staff. The staff helped her manage the symptoms
of her mental illness and provided lessons on daily-living skills such as medication management
and how to eat healthy. The house she moved to was a group residence, which also helped her
with socialization as she made friends and worked with her peers who were going through similar
problems.

While being homeless for six months, she was unable to focus on the things that truly mattered
to her - like finding a job. Now that she didn’t have to worry about the roof over her head, she was
eager to work with staff who assisted her with starting the job search. The staff at Stratford House
provided Dawn with several leads including the recommendation to try out her local Dollar Tree
location. After reaching out, Dawn secured an interview and on May 25, 2018 she got the call that
she was hired!

After 11 long years, Dawn was back working once again. But she had one final issue to confront:
she had no way of getting there. Luckily, the staff at the Stratford House were able to provide the
much needed transportation for her to and from her new job. She has stated that she “Enjoys
working with new customers daily and seeing new faces and is grateful to have found Easterseals.”
With the help of staff, she has achieved her goals and we are so proud of all she has accomplished
so far.

- Nerea Vazquez, Service Coach | Community Living | Morganville
18 Easterseals New Jersey Success Story Newsletter 2018 LIVE · LEARN · WORK · PLAY