Real Stories

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Hello, I would like to introduce myself. I am the woman who sits next to you in church and participates in churchactivities and groups. I am the friendly lady who exercises beside you in the pool and at the YMCA. I am the woman who you see going to the movies with my friends or having coffee at the local restaurant. I am the woman who has Bi-Polar Disorder, a form of menal illness.

I would like to share with you my story of my recovery in order to help others realize that recovery is not just a word people use but is achievable with both natural and professional supports.

My CSP worker suggested that I might consider going to the Renew center for additional skill building and socialization. The Renew Center is a place for individuals with chronic mental health issues to meet and socialize as well as attending groups to learn new skills to help improve our lives. I started to attend the Renew Center almost daily, finding groups which helped to increase my self-esteem, learning about my illness and how to cope with the side effects of my medications. I met an individual who understood my mood swings, accepting me for who I was and really enjoying my friendship.

I currently have numerous friends who I go to community activities with such as church the YMCA, the movies, and out to eat with at a restaurant occasionally. My mother is not able to travel again during the winter months withouth worrying about if I'm doing alright, making only a weekly phone call and not having to call me nightly. I parfticipate at the Renew Center working on the Newsletter, being part of the Consumer Advisory Committee which helps to plan activities at the Center and recently became a Peer Helper which is the first job I have held in a long time which I have felt successful at.

I have a total new outlook on life, knowing my self esteem has increased and improved due to my recovery plan. I am looking forward at moving to an apartment so I can live by myself, allowing my mother to enjoy her home again. I would like to start to work in the community at some time in the near future.

I want to end my story saying that I now know that Recovery and Wellness are not just words you read about in an article in a magazine or in a flyer in a Mental Health Unit at a hospital. These are the philosophies of a very special program which we are privileged to have in Mason City, Iowa. I hope by telling my story, this will help others to seek the help they need to start to live a life worth living again.

A testimonial of a real life that was affected by the support of United Way of North Central Iowa and Mental Health Center of North Iowa's Renew Center Program.