Every year, the Network honors two outstanding supportive housing tenants at its Awards Gala. In 2012, we selected Vernell Wilson of the Homeless and Travelers Aid Society and Charles Bailey of Promoting Specialized Care and Health. Learn more about these remarkable tenants below.
Vernell Wilson
(left to right) Ted Houghton of the Network, NYS Senator Liz Krueger and HATAS tenant Vernell Wilson.
In 2009, Vernell Wilson was homeless, unemployed and recovering from an addiction to both alcohol and crack cocaine. She lived on the streets of Albany with her daughter, a 13-yearold girl with multiple sclerosis. She also suffered from a number of mental health ailments, including panic and anxiety disorder. On September 3, 2009, she arrived at the Homeless and Travelers Aid Society (HATAS), an organization that would transform her life in just three short years.
Vernell moved into a supportive housing apartment with her daughter. Stably housed, Vernell could concentrate on the three basic pillars of her new life: sobriety, employment, and taking care of her special-needs children.
Through remarkable dedication, Vernell has triumphed over her addiction. She speaks proudly of her three years in recovery and continues to attend weekly AA meetings to ensure her sobriety.
Vernell then began to work toward re-activating her former career as a certified nursing assistant (CNA). Given her status as a recovering addict, Vernell had to seek approval from the NYS Department of Health (DOH). She submitted a heartfelt letter to DOH’s Legal Review Board, as did her mental health therapist and her case manager at HATAS.
“If there should be any reason you feel that I would not be right for this position, I will always and truly remain confident and proud in what and who I’ve become,” Vernell wrote in the letter to her board. “I will NOT give up on myself.”
After months of anticipation, the HATAS community was thrilled to learn that Vernell was approved for work. She promptly secured a job at All Metro Health, where she’s worked 50 hours a week since 2010.
With a hectic work schedule and her own illnesses to manage, Vernell also takes care of her special-needs children. She lives with her daughter and takes regular care of her adult disabled son. Vernell has raised five children in total, which means she spends a great deal of time taking care of her grandchildren when her kids are at work.
Vernell is proud of her achievements, but she never forgets how hard she worked to make her new life possible. She treats each new day with gratitude -- and as an opportunity to grow.
“This is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me,” Vernell said about her Tenant of the Year honor. “I can’t believe that such a fuss is being made over me -- a party and an award. It’s all too much.”
Charles Bailey
(left to right) Ted Houghton of the Network, PSCH tenant Charles Bailey and NYC Council Member Gale Brewer.
“I was so close to giving up,” says Charles Bailey, a combat veteran and tenant of Promoting Specialized Care and Health (PSCH) supportive housing. “But I didn’t give up. I got up.”
Charles has been dogged by heartbreak and overwhelming odds for much of his life. His father died of a heroin overdose when he was in kindergarten. His mother died eight years later of a gall bladder infection. Robbed of both parents, Charles became severely depressed. He turned to drinking at the age of 14.
After his addiction to alcohol ran its course, Charles sought to gain some structure in his life. He enlisted in the US Army Reserves in 1979, earning an E4 ranking. It was in the military, however, when Charles’ psychiatric ailments began to really rear their head. Charles began using crack cocaine, which led to a six-month stint at Riker’s Island. He also endured several visits to psychiatric hospitals. Charles’ life reached its nadir in 2006, when he jumped in front an F train in hopes of committing suicide. Thankfully, Charles survived. He knew then, he had nowhere to go but up.
A short time later, he entered PSCH supportive housing in Queens. His first order of business was to achieve sobriety. PSCH helped him reach this goal by 2008.
After that, the world opened up for Charles. He earned his CASAC (Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor) certification with help from PSCH and began working part-time as a peer specialist for the organization. In 2010, he moved into a full-time position at PSCH.
With his beaming smile and experience with incarceration, mental illness and substance abuse, Charles is known for connecting particularly well with young adults. He organizes regular softball outings with PSCH youth and coaches a youth softball team that plays in Central Park. As a peer specialist, he draws from his troubled past to help young adults and other hard-to-serve individuals find peace. He’s managed to turn his darkest times into an asset for others.
“Charles’ life is one of the greatest turnaround stories I’ve ever seen,” says PSCH Deputy Director Crystal John. “He’s one of the most pleasant and resourceful people we have at PSCH.”
Charles didn’t give up, he got up -- and the world is a better place for it. We’re proud to recognize his achievement with the Network’s Tenant of the Year award.