Relief at Last

William had just finished playing golf when it happened.

He walked up to a brand-new Audi SUV (retail price up to $70,000), popped the trunk and tossed his clubs in. There was just one problem: the car wasn’t his.

“I thought somebody had bought the car just for me,” he says now, looking back. “Then I looked up at the sky and saw some stars, and I thought they were my mom and God talking to each other.”

Somebody called the police, and they could tell William wasn’t a criminal. Instead of taking him to jail, they took him to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He was 60 years old and had never been diagnosed. Finally, an explanation for decades of strange behavior, which had cost him jobs and relationships.

William’s bouts with depression were relatively short periods of typical sadness. But during his manic episodes, which sometimes lasted for weeks, he often lost touch with reality. Worse, he was self-medicating with alcohol abuse. Once diagnosed, William was put on meds to stabilize his moods. But he needed a place to stay, since he’d just become homeless after a job loss.

William came to MorningStar and joined the 180 Recovery program. After a few months, he was a new man — sober and, thanks to his new meds, his bipolar was under control. MorningStar also helped him obtain disability insurance, due to his bipolar. And now he looks forward to living independently again.

“I have no idea where I would have gone without MorningStar,” William says. “I would have been sleeping outside, absolutely homeless.”

Thank you for helping people in need of compassion like William.