Jade holding the keys to her new apartment
I was living in Emerald Greens in 2021 and was on Section 8 housing assistance. A tree fell on my apartment. Section 8 deemed it uninhabitable, and I had no where else to go. I ended up homeless for the first time. I stayed in shelters and hotels until the end of 2022.
Thunderbird Clubhouse helped me obtain housing in their Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) Program. I was housed at that complex for a little over a year. The apartment complex was bought by another company that did not want to work with the PSH program. Unfortunately, I was forced to leave that apartment for no fault of my own.
I became homeless, and I ended up experiencing psychosis and went to a psychiatric hospital in Lawton. I was in the hospital for 5 weeks. When I came out of psychosis, I reached out to Thunderbird Clubhouse, who encouraged me to come back to Norman.
Once I arrived in Norman, I stayed at the local overnight shelter for four months during the heat of the summer. Being unhoused is traumatizing. It was exhausting to find places where I felt safe and could have privacy. I began rotating from Food & Shelter and Thunderbird Clubhouse each day, feeling helpless that I would never be housed.
With the help of Clubhouse, we finally located a landlord who was able to get me into an apartment that was all bills paid because I had no income. I am now very happy to be housed, and the great news is that my apartment is right across the street from Clubhouse. I attend daily now.
It has been hard to fully relax because I still have trauma and anxiety that I will become unhoused again. However, I am working on my anxiety and taking it day-by-day. I am grateful that Thunderbird Clubhouse exists. All the members and staff are so kind to me. Without Clubhouse, I would probably still be on the streets.
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