Unemployment and homelessness are often stark realities for those who suffer with a severe mental illness. Affordable housing options are limited and wait lists are very long for low income or subsidized housing. Many people with a mental illness need support as they enter employment or transition from the streets to a home.
Our Hofmann Houses for Men and for Women, provide the needed support within the home and from NAMI Greater Seattle (NAMI GS), to take the next step. In 1999, NAMI GS entered into partnership with several individuals who were coping with serious mental illness, and looking for a place to call their own. These six men, were guided by NAMI GS, contractors and volunteers, and funded by individual and corporate donors, to renovate an older house, thereby gaining valuable work experience and 'sweat equity' in their own stable, self-sustaining, and secure household.
In the twenty years prior to this, these six men had been in and out of psychiatric hospitals, jail, were homeless, in rehabilitation for alcohol and substance abuse, and, in one case, in prison. Since 2000, without costly residential staff supervision, they have had no incarcerations, and only one suffered a brief hospitalization. All the house tenants are currently working, all pay rent, maintain the household together, stay in treatment, and support each other when symptoms threaten to break through.
Hofmann House for Men (HH4M) became a working model to other agencies in our region, and NAMI GS began a new project, Hofmann House for Women (HH4W). As before, the prospective tenants worked on the remodel with help and funding from willing individuals and businesses. Renovation is complete, and five women now enjoy a stable and supportive home environment that will enable them to pursue counseling, job training, schooling, and employment.
