And over almost 27 years we haven't had too many who are physically dangerous. But we have had several who have caused problems after they left. Especially those who have left on bad terms for such things as not complying with the rules or not paying service fees.
I remember one fellow that we discharged six or seven years ago because he wouldn't work or pay his service fees. For a few years afterward, he went to nearly every government agency that would listen to him to complain about TLC.
He went to the city of Mesa. He went to Maricopa County. He went to the Arizona health department. He even went to the state legislature. He filed complaints with all of them. Once in a while, an official with one of these agencies would call us and ask a few questions. But that was about the extent of it because most of them realized that the former client wasn't dealing with a full deck.
He even used 12-step meetings to complain about our program and especially about me personally - even though I'd never met him. The last I heard of him, he'd relapse and disappeared.
I bring this up today because we now have a woman who's been harassing since she left the program about four months ago. She too has gone to every agency she can think of to file complaints about our operations. She's made claims about being hospitalized for some kind of virus she says she caught at one of our facilities. She contacts our clients, offering to help them get to a "safe" halfway house, and so on. She even started a Go Fund Me page wanting $50,000 to help her "cause." So far the page has raised zero dollars in six weeks.
Today we were in court because we'd obtained a court order to keep her from harassing us or our clients. She was contesting the court order. The judge reminded her that she should stay away from our employees and facilities and that was the end of it.
There's always a lesson to be learned from dealing with addicts that also have serious mental problems. And that lesson is that we must be grateful that we're not facing the same challenges they are.
Staying sober is enough for an addict or alcoholic to deal with. But when one has mental health issues along with it life must be really challenging.
