Cel­e­brat­ing our Drop-In Program

January 10, 2022

KYC is proud to share a recent email our teams received from a par­tic­i­pant in our Mount Prospect Drop-In Pro­gram. Through­out the pan­dem­ic, this team has piv­ot­ed pro­gram­ming from in-per­son to vir­tu­al plat­forms and back again a num­ber of times to keep guests safe and engaged, while rec­og­niz­ing the impor­tance of inter­per­son­al con­nec­tion now more than ever. We’re deeply grate­ful to Susie who so elo­quent­ly shared her expe­ri­ence below, and to our Drop-In Team who was recent­ly rec­og­nized as our ​“Team of the Month” for their extra­or­di­nary work.

Hel­lo, my name is Susie, a long-time ​“reg­u­lar” at the KYC Drop In Cen­ter. I write to you today in the hopes that you will for­mal­ly rec­og­nize the hard-work­ing staff at the KYC Drop In Cen­ter, for their amaz­ing con­tri­bu­tions to all our lives…to all those who have ever ​“dropped in” there.

Espe­cial­ly in more recent times, the Drop In Team has kept us going; whether it was with week­ly con­fer­ence calls dur­ing the pan­dem­ic at its worst (while the Drop In Cen­ter was closed), or when it’s while they are all wear­ing masks, keep­ing sur­faces clean, and help­ing us feel connected…reducing iso­la­tion, elim­i­nat­ing depres­sion and anx­i­ety, and cre­at­ing an uncom­mon sense of com­mu­ni­ty — all while encour­ag­ing us to nev­er give up hope and to keep mov­ing for­ward through the dif­fi­cult times we now face. We know we can count on them to boost our spir­its with their sup­port. If we want to sim­ply play Yahtzee, just chat, or need help with some­thing that’s too over­whelm­ing for us, we know we’re nev­er alone. There’s a real com­fort in know­ing we can find that kind of sup­port at Drop In.

Although one of the require­ments to gain admit­tance into the Drop In Cen­ter is to have a men­tal health diag­no­sis, we are nev­er treat­ed like an ill­ness. As peo­ple with men­tal ill­ness, we are peo­ple first. At Drop In, we are always treat­ed with respect, com­pas­sion and empa­thy, among many oth­er pos­i­tive intan­gi­bles. The Drop In Team always strives to make a dif­fer­ence in our lives — in the groups, con­ver­sa­tions, activ­i­ties, and just about all the time we share there (except for when we use the bath­room or take a phone call! LOL Just kidding!). 

Seri­ous­ly though…

When I asked oth­er Drop In guests what they thought about my writ­ing you to pro­pose some kind of reward/​award/​recognition for the staff at the Drop In Cen­ter, all hands went up IMME­DI­ATE­LY!!! And THEN, com­ments shot out:

• “We’re so blessed!”
• “Drop In is a life saver!”
• “I don’t know what I’d do with­out Drop In!”

So this just goes to show you how much of an impact the Drop In Team makes in our lives. The staff may seem like they’re just doing their ordi­nary, every­day job, but they’re doing an EXTRA­OR­DI­NARY job, every day, in the process!!! (I hope that makes sense).

So, on behalf of all of the guests at Drop In, I ask that you hon­or every indi­vid­ual staff mem­ber on the Drop In Team for their extra­or­di­nary work…whether it’s with a bonus, cer­tifi­cate, plaque, or what­ev­er it may be (or all of the above!)…they tru­ly deserve some­thing in return for all that they’ve giv­en to us…which is smiles, laugh­ter, joy, accep­tance, val­i­da­tion, sup­port, kind­ness, a sense of belong­ing, and I could go on with so much more…but maybe most impor­tant­ly, hope. Such that the heart can grow, and we can fur­ther our recov­ery. And isn’t that what it’s all about? As one of the guests says, ​“Drop In rocks!”. :)

Thanks and have an extra­or­di­nary day!

Always,
Susie

More About the Drop-In Center

Find more infor­ma­tion about our Drop-In Cen­ter here.

---

Previous Article Next Article