The Story of Ken Smith |
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Debilitating mental illness can strike any of us at any time. Ken Smith* was born in Florida in March of 1954. Ken was one of nine children and although his mother died when Ken was seven, support and nurturing from his eight siblings and father helped him lead as normal a childhood as possible for someone losing a parent at such a young age. Ken did well in grade school and middle school. In high school he excelled as a varsity football player. He won a football scholarship to a college in Tennessee, played on his college team and majored in physical education. After graduation, Ken got a job in Dade County Florida as a high school physical education teacher and football coach. He was leading a productive and rewarding life until 1995, when, at the age of 41, Ken began “seeing newspaper messages.” Messages from the Mafia were the first Ken began to see. They were out to get him. The messages became more frequent and Ken’s behavior more erratic. Ken’s siblings, concerned that he was becoming a danger to himself, got him a medical leave of absence from the Dade County Public Schools and had him involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation. Ken was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He was hospitalized for a period of time and then began treatment on an outpatient basis. Unfortunately, Ken’s condition was never under control on a consistent basis and in 1999, after being unable to return to work he resigned from his high school teaching and coaching positions. At that point Ken began his homeless existence. In 2000, Ken began “seeing messages” from President Clinton, asking him to move to Washington. Once he arrived, Ken would frequent National and Dulles airports looking at the departure and arrival boards for messages. In April of 2001, he stopped a policeman and asked to be taken to a hospital. He remained there for 10 days. Through the help of one of our partner organizations, the Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place (CCHFP), Ken was placed in Zeke’s House, a supervised group residential home for mentally disabled individuals. Even with the supervision and psychiatric support provided, Ken’s illness sometimes took over. Fortunately, with close monitoring, psychiatric care and case management from CCHFP, Ken’s condition has been stabilized and he has not had a major “event” since 2002. Consequently, through the recommendation of one of our Anne Frank Board Members and the concurrence of the mental health professionals at CCHFP, Anne Frank House was able to offer Ken an apartment in October of last year. Ken is absolutely thrilled at having his first real home since 1995. While he will always need psychiatric support and case management, with the help of our partners, Ken’s existence will move closer to mainstream and all of us will be rewarded by his success. *Fictionalized name
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