Since first attending the festival three years ago, he has become a champion for our work, and for the whole mental health community of NYC.
At Community Access’ 2017 Gala, he gave a powerful speech about his experience caring for his brother, a man with mental health concerns. Give it a read:
I’m here tonight because I am one of the millions of Americans whose life has been affected by mental health issues:
My brother Ralph lives with a serious mental health condition, and he’s been in and out of institutions all his adult life.
When our mother died a few years ago, I became Ralph’s legal guardian. Since then, I have done everything I can to provide Ralph with some stability and comfort in his life. As anybody who’s ever been in my position knows, there’s only so much one person can do. The journey has been difficult, bewildering, and emotional.
Today, thanks to Community Access, life is different for me, and more importantly, for Ralph.
In the years since I found Community Access, the mystifying landscape of mental health and housing has become manageable. I no longer worry whether people like Ralph have a champion in New York City. Community Access is that champion, and it shows in the work of people at all levels of the agency.
I know this, because I’ve seen it.
This past year, my brother became a Community Access tenant, and his life has been transformed.
He has the support he needs: in his building, and as a participant in the East Village Access mental health treatment program. He still has struggles, but he knows he has a supportive, loving community to lift him up through it all.
That, in the end, is the promise Community Access makes to people with mental health issues and their families throughout New York.
You don’t need to travel this road alone. We’re in this with you. And bright new horizons lie ahead.
Thank you.