Faces of the shutdown: Robin Wold, Hope House
"We had clients who were doing very well in the community before this, and now they're back withdrawn in their homes," said Hope House director Robin Wold. "They're back to self-abusing."
The Hope House is a program to keep people with long-term mental issues out of the hospital and living in the community.
It provides services such as a drop in center, the REACH family support group, outreach services, a medication clinic, activities on and offsite and an after-hours crisis service.
Due to the recent government shutdown, all of those programs and services have now been closed.
"It cut our program in half," Wold said.
The Hope House usually employs 10 staff members and 14 clients. Due to the shutdown, it now employs 10 staff members on reduced hours and no clients.
"I'm working everyday but I'm not accepting pay," Wold said.
What Wold means is that if the Hope House and services like it aren't available to help clients, the community will have to burden the load, and they might know how.
