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What Does IKRON Mean to Me?
By Michael Deleon, IKRON Participant
People ask, “What is IKRON?” The technical meaning of IKRON is “Integration of Knowledge and Resources for Occupational Needs.” To me, IKRON means much more than that! You see, I am a 52-year-old male who has experienced life’s downfalls and felt stuck and alone. I suffer from Bipolar 1 and Depression along with numerous physical ailments. Unfortunately, I found myself on the wrong side of the law and spent time in jail. Once I was released from jail, and my family didn’t trust me and weren’t willing to help me, so I found myself homeless. While sitting at City Gospel Mission homeless shelter, I told myself this cycle of life I’m experiencing needs to change, but how? Sitting in a classroom at City Gospel Mission is where I first met IKRON staff members Hannah and Erik. They preceded to explain what IKRON was all about. I had this feeling in my gut and heart that this is where I needed to be. I knew that IKRON could change my downward freefall of life. After that class, I filled out a form for IKRON and talked to Hannah. She assured me that IKRON could help me even with the barriers that I have. I called IKRON that day to set up my intake.
Once accepted in the day program of IKRON, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I know during my tour I was thinking to myself, “What an old building, and what can IKRON do for me?” My first day at IKRON I took everything in. Not really wanting to participate in groups and feeling alone still, I was thinking to myself that no one here has any idea what I’ve been through, and they don’t understand how I ended up this way. I decided I would come here, keep to myself, do what was needed, and not much more than that.
As my time at IKRON grew, I realized that I was not alone! I found out that the people here do understand what I’ve been going through, because they’ve had similar experiences to mine. Once I learned people’s stories, I was like, “Oh my God! He or she has been through what I’ve been through, or something similar.” People told how they dealt with their barriers and how they get through life day by day. I’ve learnt it’s just not a struggle for just me, but many of us that struggle every day and fight to keep our heads above water.
I attend the Anxiety Group and Getting Out Of Depression Group. Both groups have given me the tools to deal with my Depression and Anxiety. The facilitators of these groups do an outstanding job! With their compassion, they provide reassurances and validate our feelings. The facilitators also help us reorganize our thought processes and help us process our thoughts and feelings. Being able to check in and share my feelings and thoughts that are weighing me down in these groups is how I realized that I am not alone! I realized that I did not need to suffer in silence anymore. IKRON is an outlet for my feelings and thoughts, and a chance to be heard!
IKRON is not a dysfunctional family. IKRON is not a place of broken people! IKRON IS A SAFE HAVEN! You see, dealing with this world is not easy, and dealing with everyday life is a struggle for people, but people who trust in IKRON know that we can come here to be safe from our world and our demons. People can come to IKRON and talk about their problems, and someone will reach out and give you their input or thoughts if they experienced the same things as you did. Someone will pat you on the back telling you everything will be ok. Someone will give you a support. Someone will simply reassure you that YOU THAT YOU ARE NOT ALONE! You see my friends, IKRON is the Integration of Knowledge and Resources for Occupational needs, but to me IKRON is much more! To me IKRON is HOME, FAMILY and a SAFE PLACE to be!