Audrey Begins a New Adventure

PfP recently said farewell to Audrey, who most recently worked in the Club as a greeter. Audrey took some time to tell us about her new opportunity at the Fulton State Hospital and her time at PfP.

Tell us about your new job...
My new job is at the Fulton State Hospital in Fulton, MO, located near Columbia and Jefferson City. I start Thursday, November 1. My job title is Clients Rights Advocate. If a client has a grievance with their team and they cannot settle it, I step in and try to negotiate

What are your future goals?
My future goals are to maintain this job and eventually get my MSW (Master of Social Work).

When did you start working at The Club at PfP?
I started working at Community Alternatives on September 11, 2009, shortly before the merger. I worked as a receptionist and did my practicum for my BSW. I graduated cum laude from UMSL. I then got a job at Places for People as a peer specialist in the Club.

What was your favorite part about working at the Club?
My favorite part of the Club was the camaraderie and brotherly love I felt there from clients and staff. It was like going to Cheers each morning – where everyone knows your name.

How do you think your experiences at PfP will help you in the future?
The experience I had at PfP taught me certain job etiquettes and how to work in a healthy and productive way. PfP taught me how to hold a job effectively, especially at the beginning when things were rough.

What experiences from your time at PfP will you remember most?
The experience I remember most are the interactions with my peers who I considered friends. My IMR (Illness, Management and Recovery) Group was so supportive and goal focused. It got me where I am today.

What are you most excited about with your new job and city?
I am excited about my job and city because it’s a new adventure. I’ll be dealing with peers in locked psychiatric wards who have spent a long time there, unlike Places where you can come and go. My boss is great and the town is small and friendly.

Harvest Moon Rises Saturday

This Saturday we will celebrate the bountiful harvest of good deeds and selfless actions performed by members of the Places for People community—the staff, administration, our supporters and our board—at the Harvest Moon Dinner, Dance and Jazz Cabaret.

Doors open at 6 p.m. at St. Vincent de Paul Church. Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. Music will be performed by the Fourth Friday Ensemble, Women Under the Influence and Jeanne Trevor. There will also be an open bar, silent auction and a live auction.

There are a limited number of tickets remaining. Please RSVP to Julia Day by Wednesday, October 31.

Students Organize Donation Drive

The Tomatsu family wanted to help.

Siblings Shun, Shiori and Saori Tomatsu have worked together for two months on an ongoing collection drive at Clayton High School for Places for People. The response from their classmates filled the family vehicle on Thursday with bags of food and clothing, and was met with gratitude and smiles at the Places for People Welcome Center.

“It really did make us happy to see that what we did made a difference at Places for People,” said Shiori Tomatsu, a junior at Clayton High School.

Shun, a senior, estimated that the family has devoted 15 hours on the project so far. They made posters and flyers to advertise the drive, and distributed collection boxes around the school.

After deciding to organize a collection drive, the siblings researched several organizations online before finding Places for People. “We really liked the mission statement,” Shiori said of the choice to donate to PfP.

PfP’s mission statement is to provide innovative and effective mental health services to people in need while creating a system of care that promotes personal recovery.

The students learned more about PfP after delivering their donation. They talked to Megan Heeney about the role of the Outreach Team at PfP. The Outreach Team seeks to reach people who are homeless and living with untreated mental illnesses. The team works to develop a positive rapport with the goal of gradually engaging the individual in appropriate services. Necessities like food and clothing can help build that relationship and start a person on the road to recovery.

After talking to Heeney, the Tomatsu siblings received a tour of PfP’s Recovery Center Campus by Community Coordinator Julia Day.

“We enjoyed being able to learn about new aspects of the organization,” Shiori said of the experience at PfP.

The collection drive will continue at Clayton High School, with two more deliveries set for November and December.

To find out more about organizing a donation drive for PfP, visit our Wish List page.

Community Table Night at Baileys' Range Benefits PfP Outreach Team

Dine at Baileys' Range tonight, October 30, for Community Table Night. Between 5-8 p.m. 25 percent of sales will benefit the PfP Outreach Team. If you already have dinner plans, stop in for a milkshake or a beverage.

Baileys' Range has received accolades from the Riverfront Times (Best Decor and Best Ice Cream Parlor in the RFT Best of 2012), Sauce Magazine (Readers' Choice Awards - Favorite New Restaurant) and St. Louis Magazine (2012 A-List Best Burger Selection), among others.

Baileys' Range is located downtown at 920 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63101.

Learn more about the PfP Outreach Team at http://www.placesforpeople.org/who-we-serve/programs/outreach-to-homeless.