Four reasons to return to work sooner rather than later:

1. Working (even part-time) can help you get better and is vital to your recovery by giving you something to wake up for, possibly take your mind off yourself, and feel good about. Some studies suggest that it can reduce your illness symptoms.

2. Regardless of what your future career might be, working now keeps your work-place skills alive and establishes references and connections. Think of it as networking for the next job. The longer you're absent from the work world, the harder it will be to return.

3. Making your own money can reduce the burden of your family or free you from whomever you may be dependant on—increasing your freedom and independence.

4. You can keep your benefits while you work—we have a benefits counselor that can help you understand the incentives out there to actually increase your income.

Caramore can help you immediately return to work and counsel you on how to get on a career path. Currently, we have some clients who are employed in jobs that they consider to be "a first step." Others are studying for their GED, taking college classes, and some are currently working in their chosen careers—but they all recognized the value of getting back into the workforce as soon as they were able.

D. Cooley

Getting better takes time

Ray is currently one of our rising stars; he’s participating in our Tier 3 Project in his own apartment, works full time for UNC Animal Lab, is a connoisseur of restaurants and dining, and just got his Ford Probe back on the road. He’s a young guy with ambition and interests and plans.

He’s also a great example of how feeling and getting better takes time.

Ray first got sick and diagnosed in 2000, which pretty much derailed his life. In 2001, he came to Caramore and lasted just days. He felt he wasn’t ready and chose to leave and went to an assisted living facility where he stayed until July of 2005—returning to Caramore.

So what happened? Why could he pull off in 2005 what he could not in 2001? Was it a psychopharmacological miracle, a gradually developed new prospective, physical healing, or just natural maturation? It is likely some of all of those things, with the thread that unites them all being time. Ray needed time to heal and rest and sort things out and desire for more.

Battling a mental illness is a struggle and Ray deserves a tremendous amount of credit for adapting to it, living with it, and transcending it—with patience. His plans for 2007 are even more ambitious…

D. Cooley

What is success?

Christopher Morley writes, “There is only one success—to be able to spend your life in your own way.”

Mental illness is simply vicious and tragic. Sadder still are young individuals who get sick with the illness and cannot accept it. They think it just can’t be—not now, not to them. They are in denial, which typically leads to more suffering.

Accepting that one is ill and gaining “insight” can take a very long time. The life that had been planned and the visions that accompany that plan seem ruined, and a grueling frustration sets in.

Most tragic illnesses require a completely new lifestyle and a reconfiguring of thought—mental illness is no exception. Everything changes, and individuals need time to sort all of this out mentally and physically. It’s a fierce challenge, especially for the very young.

The above quote suggests success as having a vision of what one wants to do coupled with the mature realization that one is enjoying both the process and the results—a balance of ambition to get there (and maybe always getting there), and the wisdom to be happy with what is achieved.

All of our clients are working for their future—to spend their life in their own way—and if they can set up as many positive and healthy trends now, they eventually begin to enjoy the present.

D. Cooley

Employers who really make a difference

Caramore’s expertise is getting an individual who may have come right out of a long hospital stay, or some other similar situation of not working for a long period, and returning them to work in the community.

We do this by immersing them in our own “work adjustment” program for a couple of months where they can relearn and really get down as routine those “soft skills” like an appropriate personality, how to act socially, what to say, being friendly and optimistic, taking instruction and supervision, &c.

Once these soft skills are down an individual is ready for a job in the community.

Our job counselors work with our clients every step of the way, on all components of pre and post job placement. The counselors do a lot of counseling, but it is the client who does the job day-in and day-out.

If it weren’t for the help of some wonderful employers in our community, Caramore simply could not exist. Caramore and clients work extremely hard to maintain great relationships with our employers. We function as an employment agency! Our faith and commitment to our clients as workers, our ability to provide competent employees on short notice, our being on call to assist in any problems, all work to benefit employer and employee.

Here are some of the businesses who provide Caramore participants with the opportunities to be successful:

Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse
Everything you need for your home and customer service with a smile.

McLaurin Parking
Serving the parking needs of UNC Hospital and campus

UNC at Chapel Hill
One of the oldest and best universities in the country

Carol Woods and Carolina Meadows Retirement Communities
Taking care of all the needs of their senior residents

Marshall's Department Store
Fashion and furnishings at great prices

Harris Teeter Supermarkets
Great food and service

D. Cooley

Caroline Livermore

The late Caroline M. Livermore of Lumberton, N.C. was a woman of vision, perseverance, and determination, who founded Caramore in the early 1970’s. She had a son with mental illness who was not debilitated enough to require lifetime institutionalization but not well enough to function independently. He became the first Caramore client and to this day is living successfully on his own in Chapel Hill. With great determination to provide community based services to individuals with severe mental illnesses, she sought funding from the legislature and other places to begin Caramore, which was initially called the North Carolina Association of Emotionally Troubled, Inc. (NCAET, Inc.).

The first group home in North Carolina for people with severe mental illnesses—Ephesus Group Home in Chapel Hill—was established under her leadership in 1976. Caroline surrounded herself with people of like mind and perseverance to formulate the early composition and backbone of the successful operation that Caramore is today.

After her untimely death in 1985, Caramore continued, grew, and prospered. Caramore is currently under the leadership of CEO David Chapman, together with dedicated individuals serving on the Board of Directors and as trained program staff.

Milestones

· 1974—Study group formed to begin the North Carolina Association of Emotionally Troubled.

· 1976—First group home in N. C. for mentally ill established in Chapel Hill—Ephesus.

· 1985—Move from borrowed facilities on University property to highway 54 location in Chapel Hill.

· 1985—Second group home established in Chapel Hill—Fountain Ridge.

· 1987—Beginning of semi-independent apartment cluster program at Carolina Apartments in Carrboro.

· 1990—Received national accreditation (CARF). Continuous reaccreditations every 3 years.

· 1995—Move to new Administrative and Operations Center facilities in Carrboro.

· 2001—Beginning of Tier 3 Program for continued long-term support for adults with mental illness.