A Father's Note

We don’t do what we do for the thank yous but they sure feel good when they arrive.  

We are so happy that Lynn, 48 who has suffered from depression her entire life is making tremendous progress! We received this note from Lynn’s father today.

“I wanted to send you a note to say how pleased we are with the team of people that NSO has assigned to work with my daughter Lynne. Dr Eldon, Karin and Tina have been such a positive support system for Lynne that we are beginning to see some improvements already. I have had occasion to contact them all, outside of normal office hours, and they have been very responsive. I just wanted to let you know how thankful we are.” Kurt
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Full Circle

November 7, 2018 was a big day for Norma. She moved into her own apartment after being homeless for several month.   While her path to housing took many turns from the Detroit Rescue Mission to two  temporary housing placements, Norma always kept her spirits up.   She continually reached out to help others, often speaking to them about recovery and attempting to connect them to services.  David Tinsley, her case manager noticed her talent and helped her apply for jobs in the human services field.  She landed here at our very own Tumaini Center.  She is an exemplary employee!  It’s an incredible thing when life comes full circle.  #nso
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Leadership

Bryran, is a rising senior at Osborn High School and participant in the YouthLink program. He has exemplified a level of leadership that has propelled him into several leadership roles both in and out of school.  As a result, Byran was recently voted 2018-19 JAG Leadership Chair for his school and was also chosen to represent his class throughout several school competitions.  He has gained the attention of his peers with his unique personality and support.  Byran is a true leader and gives NSO’s YouthLink department credit for teaching him how to maneuver through current situations.  He is very focused and committed to improving himself in the direction of stability as he grows into a young adult with promising dreams and aspirations.   Way to go Bryran!
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Be the Change...

Gloria a 74 year old widow, started receiving therapy from NSO in 2012.  Most of her life was spent in abusive relationships – starting as a small child and continuing throughout her marriage.  When she first contacted NSO she talked about loneliness, depression, social anxiety and helplessness.  As the years flew by she looked forward to her weekly in-home therapy to manage her agoraphobia and depression. Her biggest success has been living her home with a support person.  In October we found out that her insurance was changing, and she would need authorizations which included leaving her home to meet with the doctors. Gloria felt frustrated and confused as the insurance situation dragged on but with the help of her therapist she was able to maneuver the insurance process and fight for the services she knew she needed.  Because of Gloria’s persistence the insurance company was able to change their policy for others in Gloria’s situation.  While her previous biggest accomplishment was leaving her home with support her newest success is changing policy for those that need help.  Way to go Gloria!  
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NSO. . .More than just child's play!​

Our model for care - visiting our autistic children in their homes offers us the opportunity to help the entire family. Recently, Melanie one of our Life Choices therapists discovered that the Dorian, age 7 and his parents were sleeping on the floor. While Melanie has been making great progress with Dorian and getting him to play and communicate she also felt compelled to help with his sleeping arrangement. Melanie requested help finding two bedroom sets for the family and you guessed it - two generous people donated bedroom sets. Dorian now sleeps in his bed every night and continues to make progress in communicating.  Way to go Melanie!
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R E S P E C T makes a world of difference!

Sixty-eight year-old Paul has been homeless since 2004. He sleeps where he can. We met him at the Fort Street Soup kitchen where he came complaining of an itchy rash. The medical students looked for signs and decided that he was probably having an allergic reaction. Dean walked over and kindly put his hand on Paul's shoulder. He asked Paul if he could look under his shirt. Paul agreed. With bare hands Dean removed a small speck from Paul's shirt. He looked at it closely and determined it was lice. Dean explained to Paul that he should wash and dry his shirt and the lice would be gone. He also gave Paul some lotion for the itching. Paul shared that he had spent the night in an abandoned building and slept on a blanket. He asked if that could be where the lice came from.
Dean said, "Yes the lice can live in a blanket."
Later Dean would explain to me that he was conscious of picking up the lice with his bare hands and did it on purpose. Dean wants the patients to feel as comfortable as possible and putting on gloves when touching a shirt can make a patient feel like a leper.
As Paul walked out to the lunch room Lydia, a peer support specialist stopped him. "How long have you been homeless" Lydia asked.  "Well the last time I had a place to stay was 2004 or 2005." Paul replied     "You know we have transitional housing that you can get into, we should get your name on the list." "Ok" Paul responded as he walked away. Lydia still persisted "How about I meet you tomorrow and get you signed up?" Again a quick "Ok" but still he walked away. Lydia continued to persist in the kindest way, "Tomorrow 10:00 a.m. where will you be?" Paul, "Ok I can meet you."
I'm not sure if Paul will really meet Lydia tomorrow but I know one thing for sure - in those few moments inside the makeshift clinic, surrounded by bible verses and children's art work, Paul felt compassion. He knew that Dean offered good advice and that Lydia wanted to help him. In a world that is so disconnected, where it's easy to become invisible, Paul connected!
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