The Great Turning Point
Donald’s story

When Donald Novak arrived at Lifebridge in 2008, he was $11,000 in debt, cut off from his three children, and suffering from untreated ADHD and bipolar disorder. He came without proper medical care and was still fighting the painful effects of the nervous breakdown that had taken him from his family seven years earlier. Like many other homeless people, Donald had developed post-traumatic stress disorder and could no longer support himself or his children. “They’re the most important thing in my life,” he says. “I used to get hugs everyday from my kids for 11 years, and now I don’t get any.” He describes the separation from them after he became homeless as “horrifying.”

Lifebridge helped Donald cope with the horror he experienced while on the streets and apart from his family. He immediately received proper medication in a safe, supportive environment, which helped him deal with his bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorders. “For years, I didn’t go to the doctor steadily,” Donald says, explaining that consistent, structured medical attention is one area “where the shelter has helped me a lot.”

With the right treatment and the help of his case manager, Donald was able to obtain SSI for his disorders, which he could use to start managing his heavy debt. Finally he felt he “could care about” the problem instead of being overwhelmed by the figures. The case management offered to him by Lifebridge also assisted him in reading and writing, so he could navigate through the daunting paper work that comes with all of the social services he needed.

Of course, some of the most crucial services Donald found at Lifebridge were emergency shelter, three meals a day, and guidance in securing permanent housing. He had been sleeping outside and often eating only one meal a day. Moreover, he had no hope for finding his own place. But in August of 2009, Donald will move into Lifebridge’s Seeds of Hope housing and will be proud to pay his own rent and support himself again.

As exciting as his new housing will be, the most impressive changes in Donald’s life have been emotional healing and a renewed sense of confidence in himself. “I was always too hard on myself. I was my own concentration camp,” he confesses. “It was a great turning point for me to stay here.” At Lifebridge, Donald found rest from his own negativity and fears, and the staff helped him deal with the profound challenges he had encountered in his seven years of homelessness. While homeless, he was “closed up” and “hardened.” The difference he has seen in his life has been “like a cage opening up inside.”

This year, Donald reconciled with his family and celebrated Father’s Day with his kids. He is extremely proud of them, and after a very long separation, he finally got to hug them again. He also speaks of possibly returning to an old passion from his days at Salem State College: radio broadcasting. “All it will take is work, like anything else,” he says. “I think if I could work through [homelessness] I could work through school…You look at life, you have to fight for everything.”

This determined, hopeful perspective has led Donald to say of Lifebridge, “This is a stepping stone, with the guidance of all the people involved…so you don’t take a wrong step…where you’ve taken so many wrong steps in the past.”