Richard fit the stereotype of a homeless man — sleeping under a cardboard box, seeking housing under a bridge. “I don’t ever want to go through that again,” he says today.
He won’t have to, thanks to a statewide program called SOAR, which stands for SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access and Recovery. (SSI and SSDI are Social Security programs.) Sulzbacher partners with SOAR to help people like Richard — homeless folks with mental illness in need of housing, disability benefits and medication management.
Richard, who became homeless in 2011 because of his mental illness, worked with Sulzbacher and Traci Fuglestad, SOAR’s Jacksonville rep, to find housing and stability. “I used to go to jail all the time,” Richard says. “Now everything’s good.” So good, in fact, that Richard is essentially Traci’s right-hand man, even doing speaking engagements on behalf of SOAR. “Richard is a huge success story,” Traci says. “It makes me feel good to see how successful he’s become. Now he wants others to have the same accomplishments.
Tradarian is on the same path. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2013, he ended up on the streets and often in trouble with the law. But once in the SOAR program, he began to turn things around … with an assist from Richard and Traci. Traci helped Tradarian obtain stable housing, and Richard helped him move in — and keeps tabs on his progress.
Tradarian is grateful. “Richard is an awesome person,” he says. “When you’ve been through a lot and then become stable, you become appreciative of things you’ve been through … and of the people that helped you accomplish those things.”
Richard and Tradarian are both thankful for Sulzbacher, SOAR and you for their new lives. “I love it,” Richard says. “I thank God every day for it.”
Thank you for
caring about your neighbors struggling with mental illness!
