Settling Down:
One Man’s Story
of Challenges,
Support and
Acceptance
Michael Hobin started to see specialists when he was a small child. In
fact, he remembers sitting in an office, playing with blocks, waiting to
see a doctor. At the time, he didn’t know anything was wrong. In fact,
at that time, 35 years ago, Schizophrenia, which he would eventually
be diagnosed with, wasn’t even well known to psychiatry, let alone
accepted in society.
When Michael’s parents divorced
around the time he was eight years old
and Michael was put into the foster care
system, he doesn’t remember getting very
much help with mental health. Until he was
16, he lived between foster care and group
homes, citing only that the time was “difficult.”
When he turned 16 he was still living in
his home province of Nova Scotia, and he
was able to access an apartment as well
as go to post-secondary school after high
school.
But it was difficult to make the situation
work, and by the time Michael was 19, he
was cut off from funding and was “100 per
cent” on his own.
“I decided at that time that I would just
enjoy life,” he says, “and live in shelters like
the Salvation Army and whatnot, across
the country. I thought this was a normal,
accepted way to live, and besides, I didn’t
know much more than looking out for me.”
Michael tried to go back to school again,
but it was incredibly hard being homeless
and attending college.
His lifestyle as a somewhat nomadic
homeless man led him south to Ottawa,
where he was living at a shelter in the
capital. After being there approximately
one year, he was approached by a social
worker.
“I told her that I had what I wanted in
life for now and that I thought it was perfectly normal and acceptable. She asked
me to see a psychiatrist, and I was told
that my view on life was not the view of
our general society and that I was suffering
from schizophrenia. I was 21 years old,”
Michael recalls.
After his diagnosis and beginning to
receive treatment, Michael began to work
10 C a n a d i a n M e n t a l H e a l t h A s s o c i a t i o n – C a l g a r y R e g i o n
steadily and live in supportive housing,
and then on his own, back in Halifax.
“Then one day, I got a call,” he recalls.
Michael was found by his biological
cousin who was searching for him on
behalf of Michael’s father. After a short
period of time, Michael’s father called and
asked him to move to Calgary to live with
him. He was 28 years old at the time.
Michael lived with his father for 10 years,
but he felt something was missing – his
independence.
After consulting with his therapist, he
was referred to CMHA - Calgary and
Horizon Housing Society, which work
together to provide housing and supportive living services for people with a mental
health condition living in Calgary. He was
quickly approved for the program and was
supplied his own apartment and access to
a Supportive Living coordinator.