QCFE Service
We recently received a call from an older, Spanish-speaking woman, residing in the Bronx and requesting help for the many problems caused by her problem gambling.
We can call this woman “Sophia”.
After listening to Sophia’s story, we answered her questions and eventually made an appointment for her at our Jamaica location. Although our program’s jurisdiction is exclusively Queens County, we often get calls like this one, from residents of all the surrounding boroughs. This is due to scarcity of known resources or just circumstantial concerns.
The circumstances, however, were a bit challenging.
She was an older client, stressed by personal problems, speaking limited English, a non-driver living 90 minutes away by public transportation—and (self-admittedly) not savvy with the MTA or getting directions from the Internet. To help, we mapped the trip from her location to our Jamaica office, discovering that she could take a single bus (the Q44) from her home to the office, with the bus leaving her less than a block away from the location.
On the actual day of her appointment she used these directions, but still got off a couple of stops early, leaving her several blocks from the address. At that point she called for additional guidance, a little embarrassed that she had gotten off at the wrong stop. We provided specific directions to location.
We perform this level of service for several reasons, but most simply because we think it is important.
We are glad that Sophia, who had called for help 2-3 months before but didn’t follow through at that time, eventually called back with the confession that things had gotten worse, that she was desperately in need of help and willing to travel any distance to receive it. Today Sophia has been attending treatment with a QCFE therapist for more than 6 months, has made consistent progress with her problem gambling and is much more hopeful for the future!.
If you or someone you know needs help we are here to help. For more information:
http://s96539219.onlinehome.us/toolkits/FirstStepSite/main.htm