Help on many levels
Outreach Fort Collins staff first met Tnia in the summer of 2021, and worked to support her in reaching her goals over the next several years. Throughout this time, Tnia’s trust in our team grew and she began to share more about her history of trauma and ongoing struggles with her mental health. As we continued to work with her and learn more about her unique needs and goals for the future, we were able to help her utilize her strengths and the support of those around her towards accessing housing and taking steps towards stability and healing. OFC staff recently had a chance to talk with Tnia about our work together.
When you think about working with OFC staff, what stands out?
“What stands out is how friendly you guys have always been. You’ve always been welcoming and you’ve always been supportive of everything we do, even if it’s something that you don’t agree with. I know when I was staying under the bridge for a while you guys helped me out a lot. That was a really rough time in my life and you guys were one of the main people that were actually there for me. You guys came and helped with supplies and helped with just being an ear and someone for me to talk to. That was the main thing that helped me through that time.”
How would you describe working with OFC staff?
“I would say it was awesome, because you guys would always bring a smile to my face. Whether I was in a bad mood or not, you guys still stayed calm and didn’t take it personally and that was huge. You guys helped show us what it meant to be consistent and what it meant to be there for each other. You guys have saved a lot of lives, I hope you know that…”
What were some of the challenges you faced when unhoused? Was there anything OFC staff did to help you with those challenges?
“It was really hard for me many times to not just give up, you know? You guys really helped with that, because I suffer from a lot of depression and a lot of anxiety, and it was really cool just to have people there like you guys to help ground me and help bring me back to reality. You guys helped on many levels.”