Project: Cincinnati Respite Center for Homeless Individuals
Organization: Cincinnati Health Network, Inc.
Cincinnati OH
As told by one of the nurses to Mary Beth Meyer, Project Director

Kevin's Story
As I passed out the 10:00 PM medication to Kevin last night, I marveled at the beauty of his fingers as he placed them around the Dixie cup. Just a few short months ago those same hands were raw, bloody, and suffering from severe frostbite. When Kevin first came to the Center for Respite Care last March, his right index finger had been partially amputated and seven others were wrapped in white gauze. Standing before me tonight is a new person -- healed from the inside out. Gone is the intimidating caustic man whose first words to me when I tried to change his bandages were “You’re not doing that right. You are useless.” 

Kevin’s bitterness and rage have been forty-five years in the making. Homelessness seemed to be the inevitable outcome. His earliest life lessons were of abandonment - the deaths of two close relatives, the divorce of his parents and his father’s decision to take his older brother and sisters but leave him behind. Next a trusted mentor and role model failed to keep his promise of continued contact. Kevin suffered from complex medical problems, including diabetes, and the lack of proper medical care was just a part of his life. The onset of mental illness late in adolescence all but sealed his fate. The untreated and ever increasing voices in his head declared daily that he was hated by the world. Then came the night when Kevin was abandoned by a friend on a country road in Kentucky, 50 miles from the city. Wandering alone in sub-zero temperatures brought Kevin first to the Emergency Room and eventually to us.

The Center for Respite Care is a 15-bed 24-hour facility providing medical and nursing care to people who are sick and homeless. In the beginning of his stay, Kevin was reclusive, speaking only when spoken to and coming out of his room only for meals and bandage changes. Our trained medical staff quickly recognized his untreated mental illness and immediately scheduled an appointment with a psychiatrist.  The team of medical and social work professionals collaborated in developing his plan of care, modifying certain routine practices to allow Kevin daily time out of the facility in the hopes that he would stay long enough for us to help him.  The caring staff at the Respite worked to help him adjust to living in close proximity to other people in spite of the voices in his head. They also helped him to change his mental health provider to allow him to receive medical care, mental health treatment and case management at the same location.

Gradually as Kevin’s fingers began to heal so began a healing in his heart. As he experienced the sincerity and concern of our nurses and physician, Kevin began to trust the staff to guide him in other ways as well. New medications were prescribed to help control the schizophrenia and he stayed the course while adjusting to them. He met almost daily with our Client Care Coordinator and learned to be pro-active in making sure his needs were met. Kevin learned how to properly care for his hands and began to participate fully in his medical and mental health treatment. Painstakingly, he filled out applications for benefits and even learned how to do his own finger sticks to keep his diabetes in check.

Another vital step in his recovery was to reconnect with his family. Kevin has reestablished a relationship with his mother and now attends church with her every Sunday. He’s also reunited with his grown children and his two-year-old grandson has become the joy of his life.  After several months Kevin left the Center and moved into his own apartment.

The road to Kevin’s recuperation was not without its challenges. But with each accomplishment you could almost hear the collective hearts of our staff crying, “way to go, Kevin!”  He spoke of his experiences to a group of 50 Respite supporters, thanking the staff for helping him learn how to trust and believe in people again. He ended his talk by saying, “When the fear was finally gone, Respite was there to show me the way home.”

Graduates 2006 | Project's Graduate Report | Project's Information Page