Pictured above: Gertrude reflects on her 30 years at PfP and reviews her daily medical needs with Team Leader Barbara Taylor. Gertrude shared a congratulatory hug with Club staff member Daisy Scruggs at her 83rd birthday party.

Since 1977, Gertrude has been a member of The Club, PfP's day program. For more than 20 years she worked on the kitchen crew, preparing thousands of free lunchtime meals and participating in countless celebrations. The day she sat down for this interview, she shared that she was commemorating a special event of her own -- her upcoming 83rd birthday.

"We're having pork steak, potatoes, lettuce-tomato salad," she said, adding with special emphasis "and cheesecake."

During the conversation, she settles comfortably into a chair, recalling a story about her grandmother, who owned a soul food restaurant. "We could visit my grandmother at home, anytime we wanted too -- and there was always something good to eat. But if we stopped by the restaurant she'd say, 'You have to pay, just like everybody else'."

She twinkles as she tells that story -- and every story, for that matter. And while she claims that she "sometimes forgets," she remembers the exact day when a staff person at the State Psychiatric Hospital approached her with some life-changing news. "It was September 3, 1965 when they came up to me and said, 'Gertrude, it's time to for you to go.'"

"Go where?" she asked, uncertain and unsure why she was being removed from a safe, secure and structured environment she'd lived in for more than eight years. "I liked it there," she said, referring to the state hospital. "I made lots of friends and everyone was real good to me."

Gertrude was among the first round of patients in state care who were affected by the deinstitutionalization process that resulted in thousands of people being discharged from supervised psychiatric care. She left the hospital and lived in an apartment subsidized by the Department of Mental Health. "We got along pretty good," she says, speaking of her two roommates who were also former patients. She admits it was very lonely at times, as there were few supports at that time for people living with serious mental illness.

It was not until 1975, when PfP opened the first psychiatric rehabilitation facility in Missouri, that daily social and community-based psychiatric support services became more accessible.

When her psychiatrist told her about PfP in 1977, she jumped at the opportunity to have something to do every day. "I'd never been in an organization like that before, but I met so many people and so many of them became my friends. Places helped me to be more sociable and to be more courteous. I liked to stir the pot in more ways than one when I was a little bit younger."

She chuckles and smiles again, going on to say that a bout with stomach cancer (that is now in remission) impacted her life in many ways. She's especially appreciative of the flexible levels of support provided by her community support team during her 30 years with the agency. Monthly and weekly visits have transitioned into a daily visit when a community support worker assists her with managing 10 prescription medications. Tuesdays are the dedicated to grocery shopping and though she's admitted to staff that she still prefers her grandmother's oxtail and spaghetti recipes, she chooses canned and fresh fruits and vegetables more often now.

"I have a lot of friends and I know I'm blessed," she says reflectively as the conversation draws to a close.

As she opens the door and waves to the neighbor across the hall, she adds, "I sure hope I'll see you at my party."

It's an invitation that most certainly cannot be refused.

Labels: Client Stories, Fall-Winter 2007