Video Interview: Cathy DeMello of Integrity House
conducted by Jim Washburn
At Integrity House in Santa Ana they have a semi-official theme song, where, sung to the Monkees' signature tune, everyone joins in on the chorus: "Hey hey, we're the droolers!"
Integrity House members are a unique bunch, but, there but for fortune, you might be one of them: Say your car is broadsided and, next thing you know, you can't even form phrases like "traumatic brain injury" or "cognitive dysfunction." The world becomes a confounding, challenging and often cruel place, where everyone else looks at you differently. Hence, Integrity Housers proactively dub themselves droolers before anyone else has a chance to.
In the not so distant past, the typical lot of persons with cognitive disabilities was to be warehoused out of sight in state facilities. It wasn't all treacle and chains, but neither was it a model that particularly served the rights, dreams and human potential of the patients. In recent years, the trend has justly been towards assisting people back into mainstream life, which is what Integrity House has been doing for the past ten years.
Founded by Cathy DeMello, who had worked in the state hospital system, Integrity House is a participatory "clubhouse" environment where staff and members help each other with life skills, vocational training, camaraderie and more than a dollop of unconditional love. As Brian Wilson once sang, you need a mess of help to stand alone. Integrity House has helped scores of members into self-sufficiency.
Many have blossomed in remarkable ways. Sam Durbin, for example, had decades of abuse and a disassociative identity disorder (once called multiple identity disorder) that manifested 118 distinct personalities. Once uncommunicative, angry and seesawing between living under bridges or in institutions, Sam now is one of the pillars of Integrity House, sits on the advisory committee of the State Board of Developmental Disabilities, has addressed the state senate and is the author of a book, You're Not the Boss of Me.
Finding adequate housing is the most vexing and persistent problem Integrity House members face. We spoke with Cathy, Sam and other members about their housing issues. To find out more about Integrity House, how you can help, or to purchase Sam's book, visit their website.
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