Wilson helps City Mission provide for homeless
Joel Brewton | Herald-Standard
Adrianne Wilson is the PATH case manager at the Gallatin School Living Centre in Uniontown. She has been involved with City Mission-Living Stones Inc. for about 10 years.
Joel Brewton | Herald-Standard
Adrianne Wilson sits in her office, which includes a collection of photographs and mementos given to her from clients at the Gallatin School Living Centre in Uniontown. Wilson said she considers all of the residents of the center as part of her family, and each one holds a special place in her heart.
Joel Brewton | Herald-Standard
Adrianne Wilson converses with Kenny DeLaCruz, who has been a resident of the Gallatin School Living Centre in Uniontown for 10 years. DeLaCruz has been learning to budget his money properly and also how to shop for himself.
Many pictures are set on a cabinet in an office at City Mission-Living Stones Inc. in Uniontown.
But there is one photograph of a naval officer that is especially dear to Adrianne Wilson, who serves as a case manager with PATH (Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness). The sailor is one of her former clients, who lived at the shelter for many years after being in foster care.
In spite of his circumstances, he maintained good grades and was accepted into college. Thanks to monetary and emotional support from City Mission, St. Vincent de Paul and local churches, as well as $25,000 in scholarship money, he was able to pursue a bachelor’s degree.
Following graduation, he returned to the men’s emergency shelter for a brief time before going into the Navy.
“Everybody rallied around together,” she said. “It’s cooperation and interaction with a lot of different agencies working with us. You’d be amazed at how many good people are out there who really help us.”
Remembering the sailor and many of her other clients who have their own success stories makes her feel thankful, she said.
“It’s like a community within a community,” Wilson said. “I’m just grateful for God putting me in the position to do what I do. “I’m blessed.”
On a daily basis, Wilson oversees about 15 clients and works with them on locating employment and housing, and addressing any other needs. Each case is unique, she said, and should be treated as such. Some of her clients have mental health issues and need the monetary support for medication, while others are lonely and are known to call her in the middle of the night.
City Mission-Living Stones Inc. is a nonprofit organization that aims to provide for the needs of homeless people in the area.
Not one to take credit for any accomplishments at the Gallatin School Living Centre in Uniontown, Wilson always shows her appreciation for all of the agencies and people who surround her on a daily basis, willing to offer assistance in the most dire situations.
St. Vincent de Paul has been very helpful on many occasions when the City Mission was unable to assist further, she said.
“I don’t care if the men’s shelter is full,” she said. “They’ll find some place for them to stay. They’ll pay for the hotel. A guy comes in with no clothes, just the clothes on his back, they’ll just let him take a shopping cart and shop. It boils down to whatever the need is, then we try to find a solution.”
Numerous gift bags containing underwear and socks accumulated in her office last week. Each resident in the center was given a bag, along with a $25 gift card to Walmart. It may not seem like much, but to the residents who are on a fixed income, it means everything, she said.
“When you multiply it, it adds up,” she said. “All kinds of people help us out from all different walks of life.”
Opting to take that career path was a surprise for Wilson, who graduated from the administration of justice program at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
While driving to class one day, she noticed a man holding a sign by a red light. His sign indicated he was a homeless veteran in need of help. After the light turned green, her thoughts remained centered on the homeless man.
“On the way out to Penn State, I started to pray about it, and I asked God, ‘What do you do?'” Wilson said.
Her question was answered days later when she was in class and was approached by her professor, Dr. Eric Cohen, who said City Mission was seeking volunteer advocates. Volunteer advocates assisted clients who were facing eviction or other issues.
From there, her passion to work in that environment directed her into the profession following graduation. Identifying the client’s need, the obstacle and a possible solution is a philosophy she continues to follow.
“It’s just that simple,” Wilson said. “Then you put God in the mix, and it all works out because God will always help you find a solution. I may not do things the conventional way. It definitely works for me.”
One of her clients, who has mental health issues, is learning how to cook, clean and budget money. Recently, Wilson made up a grocery list he referred to when he was shopping at the store.
He has his own apartment at the center and has established friendships there who have given him a sense of belonging, she said.
“If we weren’t here, where would he be?” she said. “What kind of life would he have? There shouldn’t be an obstacle in their way. We shouldn’t be in their way. We should be able to help them.”
Those questions are what keep Wilson working diligently to assist her clients in bettering their living situation. And at the end of the day, she doesn’t mind answering a phone call or text message in the middle of the night for any of her clients.
“God has put me in a really good position, and he’s been a blessing to me and allowed me to be a blessing to other people,” Wilson said. “I couldn’t do it without God’s grace. That’s the bottom line.”