Andrew Moss loves being around people and is happy to spin a tale for anyone with time to listen. He enjoys his job at Swamp Rabbit Café and relaxes by creating colorful works of art.
“Andrew always endears himself to people and has a great memory for things they’ve shared about themselves,” says his mother, Jenny Moss. “He is happy to fill his day with people and work.”
She’s grateful he’s had the opportunity to do that and more since joining Gateway, a Greenville resource for people living with chronic, long-term mental health conditions.
In high school, her son was a star student who excelled at baseball, football and track, but as he neared graduation, his moods changed and his confidence plummeted. He delayed college for a year and when he did enroll, he often struggled before completing his degree. His diagnosis at age 21 with schizoaffective disorder changed everything for Jenny Moss and her husband, Dr. Charles Moss. The couple spent years trying to help their son find his way in a world where mental illness is often met with misunderstanding and fear.
Gateway notecard art“It was totally unexpected,” she says. “Over a three-year period he began to experience depression, cognitive decline and delusions. As parents we were scrambling to find ways to help him.”
Friends in their close community in Sumter were supportive, but it wasn’t enough. The family moved to Columbia to take advantage of mental-health resources available in a larger city. Over the years, Andrew was able to find employment, but he had trouble keeping it. At age 35, he began having psychotic episodes and had to be hospitalized. After five weeks he seemed stable and was sent home only to have to return for five more weeks.
“By then we were in our 70s and knew that what we were doing was not sustainable,” Jenny Moss says. “We had to find something different for Andrew.”
She searched for inpatient programs and group homes, but none seemed right. One accepted new clients only after they had been homeless for a year. Another cost $7,000 a month. Some focused on caretaking rather than offering opportunities to maximize potential. When the family heard about Gateway, they came to Greenville to learn more.
Andrew Moss works at Swamp Rabbit Cafe through Gateway’s employment program.“Gateway had to determine if Andrew was a good fit, and Andrew had to decide if he wanted to become a member,” she says. “Honestly, it was a lifesaver for us, a light in the darkness. If we didn’t have Gateway, we’d worry every day about what he was doing by himself.”
Gateway’s clubhouse model promotes a structured workday and social interaction. The nonprofit partners with local businesses such as the Swamp Rabbit Café to provide transitional employment to prepare members for permanent jobs. Members check in daily, and if they don’t, another member will call.
Some, like Andrew, live in apartments owned by Gateway.
Now the Mosses have become advocates for a similar program to be established in Columbia to benefit more individuals and their families.
Gateway notecard art“Gateway has created a sense of inclusion for people who are sometimes misunderstood,” Jenny Moss says. “People come from all over the world to be trained in Gateway’s Colleague Program to learn how to implement this landmark model. South Carolina should be proud.”
Martha Armstrong, Gateway’s development director, says South Carolina desperately needs more accredited clubhouses.
“The number of people living with mental illness is overwhelming. One in 5 adults live with mental illness and one in 20 live with a serious mental illness,” she says. “The potential for them to live a productive and joyful life is significantly strengthened with support of a program like Gateway, benefitting the entire Greenville community.”
Gateway is a past grant recipient from the Community Foundation of Greenville and it established an endowment fund at the Foundation in 2013 to help with the sustainability of its work. To learn more, visit https://gateway-sc.org/.
In honor of Mental Health Awareness month, Gateway has created a package of eight assorted notecards featuring art by its members. You can purchase them at https://gateway-sc.org/support-gateway/purchase-notecards/.
