What happens first? A day in the life...

Introducing... Justin

When you enter the program at Caramore, we immediately focus on three important areas:

1) Establishing the proper mental health treatment in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area

2) Beginning a normalized and structured daily living routine

3) Starting to work at a supported job in a Caramore-supervised work environment

Mental Health Treatment

All Caramore participants are under the care of a mental health physician and are required to take any appropriate medications that may be prescribed. All medications are closely monitored by Caramore staff.

Structured Daily Living Routine

Most participants initially reside in our home setting for a number of months (sometimes less, sometimes more). Participants are mentored in hygiene, food preparation and diet, living skills, budgeting, and the establishment of a daily regimen.

Supervised Work Environment

Caramore participants get into the work routine right away. The purpose of our work sites is to get participants familiar with proper work habits and lay down the foundation for future community employment.

Here is typical work day, for a guy named Justin living in one of our homes ...

Having set his alarm the previous night, Justin awakens between 6-6:30 am. Justin showers, gets dressed in clean clothes appropriate for work, puts on a pot of coffee and has some breakfast. Justin then takes public transportation with other housemates to the Caramore offices.

[Caramore has a landscaping crew and a cleaning crew that work at various jobsites in the local community. The crews are designed to help Justin and others hone their employment skills and get acclimated with the proper work habits as needed.]

A normal work day at Caramore is 8:30 am-3pm. Justin’s crew has lunch around noon.

After work in the afternoon, Justin chats with some of the Caramore staff and then takes a bus back to the group home. Today he stops off for a doctor’s appointment he has scheduled at UNC Hospital.

When Justin gets back to the home at 5 pm, he gets cleaned up and checks out his chore for the day. Today Justin needs to sweep the kitchen and take out the trash.

Justin eats a dinner around 6:30, a balanced meal prepared by one of Justin’s housemates. Justin is scheduled to cook the following day and he has planned ahead for what he will make for his housemates (chicken, and a big salad filled with fresh vegetables)

Justin helps clean up after dinner and then goes out for a walk. He spends the night sending email on the computer, watching a movie on TV, and then preparing for bed. Justin also makes a lunch that he will bring to work the next day.

Justin takes his medications that are monitored by the home manager. Justin is in bed by 11, and like everyone else, has his own room. Justin reads a little, sets his alarm, and then is fast asleep.

Barry Shanley