The first impactful experience I had with homelessness was at 13. I wasn’t fully aware of how or why I was in this situation or what it truly meant, but I knew I didn’t feel like myself. Positive there was something wrong with me, I poured over a copy of the DSM-IV hoping to self-diagnose. If I could find the problem with me, I thought, I could fix it and be happy again.

But lately, questions from our team and community members regarding how I feel about the Day Resource Center have become more frequent. It keeps popping up in unexpected meetings, conversations, and seemingly unrelated spaces so I decided to listen to nudges and learn more about it.

This led me to attend the Day Resource Center Community Meeting on June 18th…

I recently had to take a trip to the emergency room for some concerning symptoms following a major surgery. It turned out to be…

My hope is that sharing this letter can help keep the conversation going or maybe spark some new ones. I hope everyone who reads this will feel their hearts soften a bit towards those who have struggled and maybe they’ll even choose to learn more, get involved, and help save some lives.

Disc golf is hands down one of my favorite sports. It’s something you don’t really need to be that great at to get the full enjoyment out of it. And it’s relatively inexpensive. You can play with friends or alone. And more and more courses are popping up around the area. The other day I was out playing a round and several analogies started to hit me all at once. Life lessons I’ve learned from disc golf:

Over the course of so many years, I’ve tried everything from medication to meditation to try and tame this little (sometimes big) monster. What’s worked during some periods hasn’t worked in others and it’s been a journey of self-discovery, resilience, and compassion for myself during the process.

Adverse Childhood Experiences or ACEs are potentially traumatic events that happen before the age of 18 such as experiencing or witnessing abuse, violence, or neglect.

Night shifts suck. There’s really no nicer way to put it. I worked a swing shift job in a factory for many years and it was hard.

Screen time, technology, and video games are polarizing topics in the 21st century.

This is purely about how to be a life jacket when someone feels like they’re drowning…