People with mental health problems are usually caught in the cycle of poverty. These people often cannot obtain a job because of their illness, therefore they cannot buy the necessities for living, such as a car, housing, clothing, food, or treatment for their illness. These people are also often in prison because they don't have treatment, or will discontinue taking their pills. Since they don't take their pills, they cannot control their actions. They also try to self-medicate themselves by taking drugs. Many children who grow up in a poor family usually
become anti-social. This anti-social behavior becomes worse over time, therefore increasing the chance of having a mental illness. Also, people who fall into poverty are most likely to form a mental illness in the form of anxiety, depression, or mood disorders. This is from either losing their income, or their social status. They also may form a mental illness for lack of optimism for a better future. We must remember that it is not their fault that they are in this situation.  (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/02/060206171449.htm)

The two organizations we visited for this D- term project are, Austin Clubhouse and Front Steps. On Wednesday, we visited the Austin Clubhouse. Austin Clubhouse is an organization that helps and supports the mentally ill. They believe in helping these people by achieving personal goals and creating skills that are necessary for living. They provide classes with books, testing material, and school supplies. Front Steps is an organization that helps the mentally ill by housing them and providing food, a bathroom, a shower and beds for them to sleep in. Front steps also does laundry for them. This organization will serve 3600 evening meals in one year. That is a lot of mouths fed!

On Wednesday, we went to the Austin clubhouse.There, we saw people who were struggling with a mental illness. They were very friendly and kind. There, we decorated their facility for the Christmas party they were having later that afternoon. They were all working on different things that were contributing to their goal, which was either to get a job, or find proper housing. One guy even had a job at Randall's from the help of the Austin Clubhouse. We had a conversation with an elderly blind woman  She said ,“We are not the crazy people you see on T.V.” She also said not to be afraid to greet her on the streets. Another interesting thing she said was that the mentally ill are usually the ones that are the victims of a crime, rather than the person committing the crime. This means that it is not always their fault. On Thursday, we visited the Front Steps at the ARCH. (Austin Resource Center for the Homeless) There, we handed out hot chocolate and cookies to the homeless who were staying there. We also created Christmas decorations with the homeless over at the facility. We were able to interact and have conversation with them. They were very kind, friendly, and we realized that they were very sweet people. We learned that the homeless are not so different than us; they are just humans that are going through tough problems, and who need our help to support them and care for them.

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