Dawn Winchester became employed after receiving support services from Mainstream Mental Health Services in Rapid City.  Dawn has worked for the Salvation Army for almost a year and a half. She doesn’t feel that she would have been able to get the job without the help of her case manager and others at the Mainstream program. Dawn said the support services she received were very important to her. For Dawn, one of the barriers to employment was having difficulty with the interview process. Her case manager helped her with that.  Dawn also had difficulty retaining jobs in the past. She said having mental illness interfered with working until she was able to get on medication to help regulate the depression that she suffers from. Mainstream provided Dawn with a job coach when she first began her job. Dawn continues to give credit to the job program at Mainstream for help in maintaining her job because of the support group that she is part of and for help with monitoring her medication. 

When Dawn found out about the MAWD program through her case manager at the mental health center, she applied and was approved in 2007. Dawn feels fortunate to be a recipient of MAWD. She is able to get needed dental and vision care along with other medical bills paid for. Since being on MAWD, Dawn has been able to have extra money and has opened a savings account which she was unable to do prior to MAWD.

Working means a lot to Dawn, she likes the extra money to make ends meet, but also because it makes her feel like she is contributing something to society. She says working gives her something to do and keeps her from having so much time on her hands. Dawn said having a job means “feeling more useful and it has given me more self esteem”. The advice Dawn has for people with disabilities who want to become employed is to go to a support group, learn how to be positive and learn how to complete an interview.