For most of her life, Sharon's life was so tough and changed direction so often, she didn't even recognize there was a Road to Recovery. Sharon doesn’t remember a specific time that was difficult . . . it’s been basically a continuous struggle most of her life – moving too often to remember; feeling lonely, angry, depressed, paranoid, and suffering from hallucinations.  Symptoms of Sharon’s mental illness started around 12, but she wasn’t diagnosed for almost three decades.  Even then, she was at times unable to afford her medications and relied on “cheaper” remedies: drugs and alcohol. Eventually, Sharon realized that she was more ill than she’d ever known or admitted and that the treatments for mental illness and substance abuse she’d been receiving weren’t enough to get her on track. Sharon was referred to Vail Place and that’s when she found some direction and the Road to Recovery started to open up in front of her. She was scared when she first came to Vail Place and didn’t expect too much, but figured, “At least I’ll meet some people; I won’t be so lonely and depressed.” Sharon found it helpful to be around people and to have folks to talk with.  She started attending job club at Vail Place, which gave her job search skills, like preparing a resume, how to apply for work, and how to handle interviews, etc. Sharon’s been working for the last three years and is feeling “pretty steady and stable. . . . I was never happy anywhere till now.  I’ve got my apartment, my cat, Vail Place, a job, friends. I’m not going anywhere!"       Vail Place is a comfort zone. I come here for the company, friendliness of everyone, for the help, for finding a job, for someone to listen to my problems when I need it.