A #GivingTuesday Story
Community Access is a big deal to me. So is this #GivingTuesday. Let me explain why.
All my life, I’d been consumed by obsessive, anxious thoughts. Thoughts like: I need to pay my bills. I need a job. Will I be happy with this job? What’s the point of anything if I’m not happy? What’s the point of anything, period?
These were the thoughts foremost on my mind when, aged 19 and suicidal, I checked into Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital.
I was discharged from Bellevue on the condition that I get ongoing care at a day program at Community Access – specifically, at the East Village Access treatment and recovery program. I figured I’d try it for a week. If nothing changed, I’d go through with my old plan.
Well, one week turned into two weeks turned into five years.
At Community Access, I found the support, acceptance, and understanding that I needed. I was able to thrive because I was allowed a safe space to make decisions and gain insight into myself. Decisions like overcoming my anxiety to apply to a playwriting competition – a competition I won! I got to share a stage with the likes of Seth Green, Rosie Perez and Gabourey Sidibe.
Today I work for Community Access as a peer worker at the Crisis Respite Center. Having been in the mental health system from a young age, I can tell you this: Community Access is the type of organization New York City needs.
For this #GivingTuesday, please chip in $10 – or whatever you can afford – to give more New Yorkers like me the chance to turn their lives around. Join the worldwide #GivingTuesday movement!
