The two-story brick home on Keeney Street is unassuming to most passers-by. There are tulips by the front steps, a patio in the backyard and a “God Bless America” sign on the front door.
But anyone walking past doesn’t know this house gives Keisha Warner an independence she has never had.
Two years ago, the 28-year-old was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a condition characterized by manic behavior and bouts of depression. Before her diagnosis Warner was working three jobs at a time, unable to slow down.
Warner, who is a graduate of Wright College of Design in Chicago and is a junior at Kendall Culinary College, will travel to Springfield next week as part of a panel to protest budget cuts for the disabled.
“When I was manic, I didn’t know I was manic,” said Warner, who for two months got just one hour of sleep per week. “I’d just drink coffee all day and work.”
Once diagnosed, Warner said her medication, which sometimes can be in 10 to 15 forms at once, offered little relief. She lived with her father in Joliet until Evanston Hospital introduced her to Housing Options, a nonprofit organization that provides affordable housing for Evanston residents suffering from disorders like schizophrenia, clinical depression and bipolar disorder.
Housing Options, which operates at 2916 Central St., relies mostly on federal funds from Illinois Department of Human Services and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Other sources include local churches and synagogues and individual contributions. Since its founding, Housing Options has served 100 mentally ill patients and currently houses 45 residents.
Within two weeks of applying for housing, Warner was placed in the apartment at 419 Keeney St. four months ago. She lives with a roommate, Beth Barber, who is clinically depressed. Being on her own has forced her to overcome the debilitating aspects of her illness and gain a sense of control, Warner said.
“Sometimes I think backwards,” Warner said. “It’s hard to do things like go for groceries. You have to make notes to remind yourself of everything.”
Housing Options is the only organization of its kind in Evanston, offering “community-integrated housing, meaning blending into something that isn’t an institutional setting,” said Carolyn Coglianese, Housing Options’ director of development and communication. “It’s housing like you and I would live in.”
The organization was founded in 1988 by a group of Evanston residents looking to provide affordable housing, Coglianese said. After several years of fund raising, the organization’s founders acquired the first residential building in 1992.
The organization now owns four buildings and leases 15 other apartments scattered throughout Evanston. Housing Options offers these apartments at one-quarter to one-third the price of market rent, Coglianese said. The fully furnished residences range from studios to three bedroom apartments.
“Someone living on our street probably wouldn’t be able to tell which building is ours,” Coglianese said.
“Upkeep in the buildings, stocking them, paying for the managers – it’s those kind of expenses that (contributions) will help,” Coglianese said.
Coglianese said that although he would like to expand to help house more patients, the focus now is on current residents.
“We’re not necessarily looking to expand the number of people we serve as much as continuing to serve our current residents,” Coglianese said. “If there were a way to do both, we would love to do it.”
Barber, who has been living in a Housing Options building since 1999, said Housing Options offers a chance to people with mental disorders, not only in the present but for the future.
“I think eventually I’ll be moving out of Housing Options and processing into the wider community,” said Barber. “I feel like I’m on the other side of the problem now.”
