Irene: Seeing through Clear Eyes

Irene is a woman in her late thirties who was admitted into our program almost one year ago. Prior to her admittance she had been moving from state to state winding up in Schenectady where she had been placed in one of the local hotels by DSS and lived there for almost six months. Irene was referred to Bethesda House by the Schenectady Dept. of Social Service.

Irene was unable to wait in Bethesda House’s Hospitality Center due to personality disorders; she could not be around a lot of people. The Agency’s Case Manager and Licensed Social Worker went to meet with her at the hotel to engage and begin building trust. Even after many attempts, Irene could not be convinced to come to our office for services, which resulted in our Social Worker continuing to meet with her at the hotel where she was staying.

Irene was diagnosed with paranoid personality disorder and she agreed to be placed on medication.  Bethesda House’s Licensed Clinical Social Worker continued to meet with her until eventually she agreed to come to Bethesda House to see the room that would be hers if she chose to accept it.
Irene moved into our permanent supportive housing program in February 2015 and is gradually becoming more social. She accepts the other residents and is slowly starting to participate in agency activities. Today, she is an active volunteer in our clothing room serving people from the community; she has stated that she would like to live here forever.

Irene is a testament to the success of providing wrap around services to ensure housing and income stabilization.