Sarah is the oldest of 3 who had cared for her younger sister and brother for a prolonged period after the death of her parents. Sarah was obsessed with the need to get well so that she could care for her siblings.

Sarah entered Martin Pollak Project’s YAI Independent Living Program at age 17 with a history of psychiatric hospitalizations up to 3 times a year. She carried serious diagnoses describing disorders of emotion and behavior. Sarah entered the YAI program immediately following a 3 month hospitalization and was considered a high risk for runaway and self-injurious behaviors. Sarah was suspicious and resistant towards authority and unavailable for receiving help from anyone. She saw herself as “mentally ill” and that the future held nothing for her. She made allegations against staff, and lashed out physically on a daily basis. Sarah needed to finish her education, identify and develop a career path that would allow her to obtain rewarding employment with the potential to give her a launching pad of financial self sufficiency.

YAI staff worked closely with Sarah to form an alliance where together they could cooperatively identify and plan to meet her unique needs. The first step required finding Sarah a therapist who was willing to work as part of a team. Next, the YAI staff recruited a dedicated advocate* to work with her on a broad range of practical life skills as well as time management. Life skills are the behaviors and attitudes successful families teach their children enabling them to function effectively on their own and that support successful living in the community. The individualized mix of services and personal support included a GED Program, an individualized mental health relationship, and the availability of around the clock personal assistance in the event of a crisis situation that overwhelmed Sarah’s coping ability.

Sarah initially lived with a roommate in a YAI apartment setting. The continuum of services and resources provided by the YAI Program supported Sarah’s needs well. She realized that rage at never having had her childhood needs met was the issue was not mental illness. Sarah had never been effectively helped to identify or grieve the loss of her parents and her childhood. As she worked through her anger and regained a more positive view of the future, Sarah obtained her GED, began training as a paramedic, and reworked her relationship with her siblings who were in the process of being adopted.

She was now ready for a productive future. By age 19 ½ Sarah was living in her own apartment and paying her own bills. Sarah was hired as a member of an ambulance crew while still in YAI and worked that job for over a year while still in the YAI program. Upon her 21st birthday she enlisted in the Army as a Medic. Sarah has proudly returned several times to Martin Pollak to let YAI staff know that she is a contributing citizen in her community and very appreciative of the opportunity provided by the MPP Independent Living Program. She is able to describe how the program helped her to identify her strengths and work through the trauma of her childhood. Sarah is now married with 2 young children, living in a large new home in a suburb of Baltimore and remains in the Army Reserves.