E. B. is a 52-year-old woman who receives DBHDD supported employment services and participates in the Georgia Department of Community Affair’s Shelter Plus Care housing program. Ms. B. has a history of substance abuse and incarceration, but she had a strong desire to get her life back on a positive track. However, due to her background, many employers were reluctant to hire her.
Determined not to be defined by her past, she enrolled in a peer recovery program, from which she graduated in 2013, and was referred into supported employment services in February 2014. With the help of her employment specialist, Ms. B. applied and was hired for a position as a housekeeper at a Courtyard Marriott in her community. She has been in this position for four months and has learned additional job skills to help her achieve her employment and housing goals.
Advantage Behavioral Health Systems is one of twenty-six community service boards in the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities’ statewide public safety network. Advantage Behavioral Health Systems serves individuals with mental health and addiction disorders and developmental disabilities in Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Madison, Morgan, Oconee, Oglethorpe and Walton counties.
