{"id":121651,"date":"2024-09-02T15:38:45","date_gmt":"2024-09-02T05:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/?post_type=news-and-publication&p=121651"},"modified":"2024-09-26T15:12:34","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T05:12:34","slug":"tackling-life-henrys-determination-to-find-his-team","status":"publish","type":"news-and-publication","link":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/news-and-publications\/stories-of-hope\/tackling-life-henrys-determination-to-find-his-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Tackling life: Henry\u2019s determination to find his team\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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If there\u2019s one thing Henry* loves, it\u2019s the Penrith Panthers. But his Wesley Community Housing tenants and team come in a close second (kind of like the Brisbane Broncos).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cWe all help each other out. We look after each other,\u201d he says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

An avid footballer in his youth, Henry\u2019s life changed dramatically when mental illness took hold. What followed was almost three decades of drug use, despair and loss.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Until he connected with Wesley Mission.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Down and out<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Troubled with paranoid schizophrenia and depression from a young age, Henry saw drugs as a way to escape the mental and emotional instability he was experiencing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

With little understanding about what was happening to him, Henry\u2019s life continued to spiral out of control.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

He found himself plagued by nightmarish visions, while his reality was marred by housing instability, altercations with the police and little support from those around him. His breaking point came when he lost a child.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cMy missus carried the baby for nine months, gave birth, [only] to have her for six months and she was taken,\u201d he says. \u201cI pray it was Jesus that took her away from all the mess that’s going on in the world today.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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A game changer <\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cIf it weren\u2019t for Wesley Mission, I\u2019d be dead. I wouldn\u2019t be alive,\u201d says Henry. \u201cI was addicted to a few things, and I had hit rock bottom.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cI used to travel the train system just to have somewhere warm in the winter. When I met Wesley Mission, my whole life turned around.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Henry says he now chooses to stay sober. But fears if he went to a housing commission block, it wouldn\u2019t be the same.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cWesley Mission helped me every time I slipped with my addiction,\u201d he says. \u201cI slipped a few times when I started [here], but I haven\u2019t looked back since. My supports and the team stood by me and never judged me.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201c[My neighbours] respect my beliefs,\u201d he continues. \u201cWhen I meet someone new here, I say, \u2018Don\u2019t give me a drink\u2019. I\u2019ve tried to ask them, but they say, \u2018No Henry, we\u2019re not giving you one\u2019. They care, and I care about them.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s so supportive, but it\u2019s more that I\u2019m not on my own anymore. Living in these places is like living with your family\u2026 It\u2019s good here.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Liesa, Wesley Community Housing Community Engagement Lead, says it\u2019s the people that make this community what it is.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cI know they\u2019re now cooking for each other,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd if we bring hampers up and they don\u2019t like some food, they give it to somebody else or leave it out to share.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cEven if someone can\u2019t come down for an event, either us or somebody else will take the leftovers and divvy it up. I think it\u2019s really, really lovely how they look out for each other.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A winning team <\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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There\u2019s no doubt in Henry\u2019s mind that he\u2019s found his winning team with Wesley Community Housing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s a great place to call home,\u201d he says. <\/span>\u201cAll different nationalities, all different religions \u2013 Wesley Mission accepts everyone. [They] don\u2019t discriminate.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

And while Henry initially found it hard to connect with his spirituality, since being sober he\u2019s reconnected with his faith.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cGod means everything,\u201d he says. \u201cI blamed Jesus when my daughter passed away and lost all faith in Christ. I was in a spiritual war.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cWhen I found Wesley Mission, I found God again. The door was open again. When Jesus was on the mountain, he was open to everyone\u2026 like Wesley Mission.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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When asked if he\u2019d ever move from his Wesley Community Housing unit, Henry says unequivocally, \u201cNo\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cWesley Mission is a great place,\u201d he continues. \u201cAnd if you went to everyone now and asked them the same question, they\u2019d say, \u2018We don\u2019t want to move from here at all\u2019.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s such a blessing, this place. It\u2019s great. I love it here.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

And Liesa agrees, saying she wouldn’t let Henry go anywhere.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to let you move out anyway. We\u2019d miss you too much!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

*Name and image changed to protect privacy<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If there\u2019s one thing Henry* loves, it\u2019s the Penrith Panthers. But his Wesley Community Housing tenants and team come in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":121652,"parent":29713,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","advanced-sidebar-menu\/link-title":"Alisha\u2019s story: covered with kindness","advanced-sidebar-menu\/exclude-page":true},"ceo-newsletter":[],"move-to-top-of-sidebar":[],"custom-layouts":[680],"exclude-from-nav":[632],"news-and-publications-tags":[629,1067],"class_list":["post-121651","news-and-publication","type-news-and-publication","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","custom-layouts-news-publications-empty-side-bar","exclude-from-nav-exclude","news-and-publications-tags-stories-of-hope","news-and-publications-tags-stories-of-hope-community-housing"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2024-12-19 07:47:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"private","terms":[],"taxonomy":"custom-layouts"},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-and-publication\/121651"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-and-publication"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news-and-publication"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-and-publication\/121651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122334,"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-and-publication\/121651\/revisions\/122334"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-and-publication\/29713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ceo-newsletter","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ceo-newsletter?post=121651"},{"taxonomy":"move-to-top-of-sidebar","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/move-to-top-of-sidebar?post=121651"},{"taxonomy":"custom-layouts","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/custom-layouts?post=121651"},{"taxonomy":"exclude-from-nav","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exclude-from-nav?post=121651"},{"taxonomy":"news-and-publications-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wesleymission.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-and-publications-tags?post=121651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}