We don\u2019t have the funding for this inside the system,\u201d said Ina Winkelmann, the spokesperson for the Prevention and Early Intervention Program for Psychosis (PEPP) at the Douglas Mental Health Institute. \u201cThe goal is to make them independent and not have them moved around a lot. A lot of the group homes have time limits to living there.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n PEPP, which supports people aged 14 to 35, has been around for a decade, but it only began offering housing earlier this year.<\/p>\n Among the first people we housed was a man whose girlfriend was pregnant,\u201d said Winkelmann. \u201cThat stress was making his illness worse.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Now, nine months later, the couple and their six-month-old daughter have stability for the first time since he had a psychotic breakdown in June 2012. \u00a0He\u2019s even working now, something he couldn\u2019t imagine three weeks ago.<\/p>\n Our life is normal,\u201d said his girlfriend, as the family met with a reporter. \u201cWe take care of the baby. We prepare food. We have furniture. We\u2019re not out on the street. I don\u2019t know what we would have done without the support.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Her boyfriend is grateful too, but he\u2019s scared. He\u2019s still coping with hearing voices all the time and he\u2019s afraid of losing control again.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know if I can explain to you quite what it is like,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just that there are voices in my head, but it\u2019s what they say. They\u2019re mean. They\u2019re telling me to kill things. How can I get a job with them there? I can\u2019t work with knives or tools. I can\u2019t concentrate easily. I\u2019m talking to you there, but later on, I might be looking over there.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n He\u2019s talking about living with paranoid schizophrenia, a diagnosis that\u2019s only just been confirmed. Medication has helped diminish his voices so he can stay in control, but they don\u2019t go away.<\/p>\n He was particularly stressed the day we met because he had another appointment the following day to work out what he might do to fulfil 1,000 hours of community service stemming from a pre-illness run-in with the law. Prior to his illness, he\u2019d racked up multiple parking and other vehicle fines that he was slowly paying off. He can\u2019t work at his previous job, so he had to find another way to pay.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t know what job might be possible for him to do a few\u00a0weeks ago, but he\u2019s working now. It\u2019s going well so far. By completing his community service, he’s taken a first step in learning what\u2019s possible for him to do to support his family after he\u2019s off the PEPP program.<\/p>\n Right now, that\u2019s not where he imagines being. He can\u2019t quite imagine how he\u2019ll work. He also wonders how he\u2019ll pay for his medication, a monthly injection that costs $1,000 per dose.<\/p>\n These concerns are typical for many people in PEPP, says Winkelmann.<\/p>\n Having permanent housing takes one worry away.<\/p>\n When we stop supporting them, they won\u2019t have to move,\u201d says Winkelmann. \u201cThe services are not attached to the place, but to the person.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n When the program ends, patients are capable of living independently with outpatient support.<\/p>\n That\u2019s something most can\u2019t imagine when they are first diagnosed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"PEPPsign\"](\"http:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/PEPPsign.jpg\")
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