We met him on the street and have been accompanying Mr. W for several years now. As far as we know his history, his life journey has always been complicated.
Despite the ups and downs, Mr is determined and certainly one of the most endearing person we work with!
Moreover, we have the feeling that we are not the only ones to attach ourselves to such a touching personality.
No structure seemed to be suitable to support him in an appropriate and sustainable way when he left the streets
Despite his past as consumer, he joined a healing center. This is a relief for him as well as for us, especially because he needs a significant medical follow-up due to his different pathologies, a real opportunity to heal.
Although it has not been easy for Mr. W. to respect the framework – he will narrowly avoid exclusion – but Mr. W. is so strong in the connection and in his ability to verbalise his difficulties that he perhaps deserves a little more leniency than others. Fortunately, he can count on leniency and understanding because he still has a long way to go.
However, he received a "punishment", he had to spend 2 weeks in another center where he enjoyed participating to a lot of activities.
It made him think and that was the purpose.
Returning to the first structure, he showed an incredible strength by holding out for three months and then moved to another location to work on his neurocognitive memory. Abused child and prolonged use of different substances have caused some deficits in this area.
During these 3 months off the street - a record for him - he had regained weight while he was very thin.
He felt lonely and invisible
Comparing his life on the street with that in the center, he feels reassured, he knows he exists but he does not know what to do, it will take him a little more time to find his interests.
Recently, he applied to join a psychiatric care home. And we cross our fingers, but according to the social worker at the service, he did a perfect interview.
A call from his brother (after 15 years of silence) gave him a smile
They were finally going to see each other again.
And when we last met, he even told us that "life is exciting. " His very complicated past has left many after-effects. He can be very hard on himself, unable to list his strengths, skills and qualities. But we did it for him: cheerful, endearing, funny, kind, generous, strong, talented, authentic. . . To which he replies "Yes, that may be true.
He seems to have found its place and slowly rediscovers the joys of life, also thanks to collaboration with the network.
For the team, the moments he was in the street could be very discouraging. What has kept us going was undoubtedly the strength of the bond, thanks to its ability to get people attached to him and his surprising ability to bounce back.
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(*) We do our utmost to respect the privacy of our patients and our professional secrecy. However, we want to testify to how they must survive and how we are working together to reintegrate them. As a result, the names of places and people are deliberately omitted or changed and real-life situations are placed in a different context. There is no direct link between the photos and the stories above.