Dawn Baldwin poses with her dog at home.
They go about their lives unrecognized by society.
The stories that lead them to this point are usually not told, and as Shakespeare once said, when beggars die, there are no comets seen.
Matthew Margison, Adam Brickey-Clemons, Anthony Brummett, Matthew Chambers, Edward Conley, Matthew Creasy, Daniel Creech, Leonard Harvey, Fred Howard, Robert James, Steve Madary, Doug Mangus, and Matthew Margison.
All died this year.
They were homeless in Lafayette.
The city of Lafayette and the Lafayette Transitional Housing Center held a memorial service for those who have passed. National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day was on December 21.
The first day of winter was the winter solstice.
In honor of those who have died homeless, one story echoes of hope, of a woman who overcame her troubles and made it back.
Dawn's story.
Dawn Baldwin is a happy person. The kind of person who would greet you with a smile and ask you how you are, almost like a friend would say, in a similar tone.
You wouldn't have guessed that she had spent almost a decade on the streets, constantly panhandling folks or befriending strangers just so she could drink the night away, by her smile alone.
Dawn Baldwin poses for a portrait outside of Blooms & Petals, which used to have a bench she'd sit on all day.
She did not drink for pleasure. She drank to drown out the voices in her head that made it almost impossible for her to walk down the street.
She used alcohol as a medicine to deal with her mental illness for a long time.
Baldwin was the survivor of another tragedy before she was 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 Baldwin was a child when his mother died.
She found a home with a foster family. Baldwin wanted nothing to do with her hometown of Crawfordsville. She got into a college after dedicating her time in high school.
She was hired by Boeing in Dallas, Texas, after graduating from Purdue with a degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering.
At this point in her life, Baldwin believed that the hardship from her past would be behind her and that she would be treated well.
For eight more years. Baldwin's aunt and cousins asked if they could move into her spare condo.
Bill Miller, Baldwin's former case manager, and Dawn Baldwin are talking outside of the Lafayette Transitional Housing Center Eighth Street Commons.
Baldwin was a kind-hearted person and she welcomed them in. She made breakfast for them every morning and then made their beds when she got home.
Plates of breakfast were never eaten and beds were never used. Her aunt and cousins did not exist.
Baldwin's schizophrenia began to emerge at 29 years old, and it was too late for her.
I was not in reality. The computers weren't meant to talk when I was at work one day. I had no idea why the screens were moving on me. Baldwin said that he resigned because he knew that the company was in danger.
Baldwin tried to figure out what was going on after she resigned from her position, but her primary care physicians were unable to diagnose her developing schizophrenia. She had a mental breakdown after her condition got worse.
The spiral of tragedy would soon follow her.
Everything changed when I had a psychotic break. It all felt real. People were not there and trees were talking to me. I had the Dallas team out there that day. Army men were setting up tripwires while I saw wires being pulled through my walls. When I told them about the tripwires, the helicopter and the SWAT team came. Baldwin said that it was bad in Dallas, Texas.
I ran into my place and grabbed a butcher's knife and a carving knife. Help me! Help me! I tried to get to them. The police came and took me away. The police realized that there was something wrong and that it was not right. The state locked me up in the psych ward after I was evaluated at the hospital.
She was going to meet with her old boss at Boeing to discuss her future at the company. She was offered a yearlong severance package when she left the company. She had a breakdown and no hope of returning to that life.
This is where my story of homelessness begins.
Baldwin's father found out when she was in the state psychiatric ward. He persuaded the doctors at the ward to let her go. She was in a state of psychosis and had no idea what was happening around her.
She finally woke up after rummaging through her own mind for months. She was on a couch. The place felt familiar but not great.
She ended up in Lafayette.
There is a new life in an old city.
She thought it was another wrong turn in the maze, but when she saw her father, she realized it was reality.
I don't know that I'm here. I was in the hospital for a while and I had no money to stay so I slept on the couch with my two dogs and a bag of clothes.
She moved between the hospital and the psychiatric wards over the next few months. She had saved with Boeing, but this constant treatment ate away at the 401K. She was trying to return to a sense of normal, but money was not her priority. Her mental health was her top priority.
She knew if she could conquer her mental illness, she would be able to pull her life back together.
The Lafayette Transitional Housing Center Eighth Street Commons is located in Lafayette, Ind.
She ran out of money.
She couldn't afford to see a doctor anymore, and she couldn't afford the medicine that kept the voice at bay.
As her bottle of pills began to run out, the voices that taunted her every night began to grow louder and louder.
The bogeyman that haunted her at night was no longer afraid of the sun and began to haunt her every moment of her life.
She found a bottle on the bottom of the shelf that could keep him at bay.
Being drunk was easy because of her. Being crazy was more difficult.
She began her daily ritual of walking to the homeless shelter for her daily meals, sitting at Riehle Plaza to chat with strangers, and then drinking with her friends and walking back to the shelter to sleep, hoping that tomorrow might be different.
It's honestly. The shelter was depressing. Baldwin said there was no hope.
Baldwin tried to improve her life. She would stay with a few of her friends. She left every place she stayed. Baldwin felt like a burden to her friends. She had a roof over her head.
One time she was able to get a job bagging groceries, but she couldn't be drunk at work. She arrived to work sober and early. She was unable to function as a worker because of her schizophrenia.
One moment she was bagging groceries, the next she was in a random aisle trying to stock shelves. She was doing something other than what she was asked to do.
She was eventually fired by the managers because they didn't understand her situation.
She was housed to be homeless and found herself in a precarious position.
Baldwin thought of giving up after each failure, and would tell herself that she had to be homeless.
Dawn Baldwin walks up the step at Riehle Plaza where she spent most of her days watching people.
She found a place where she could get a mental health service that she needed.
I had to stop drinking because it was very dangerous. I wanted to go into this program for a long time. I stopped taking medicine and alcohol while I was there. Baldwin said that he got face drunk one last time, went in and was safe, and didn't touch a bottle since.
Baldwin began to receive services to address her mental health issues after finishing her detoxing. Slowly she learned how to cope with her illness by taking the correct medication and self-awareness techniques.
Baldwin was accepted into the Homeless Services Program at the same time, which offers the steps one needs to find a permanent housing solution, through employment opportunities and with help from a case manager, according to the chief development officer.
The only thing Baldwin had to do was continue her treatment at Sycamore Springs and follow the rules given to her by the Homeless Services Program.
She almost lost that opportunity because of one mistake.
Baldwin was hanging out with a friend in his room. Both of them lived on the opposite sides of the building.
Baldwin fell asleep in her friend's room. She didn't think much of it at the time, but her case manager thought otherwise. Miller gave an ultimatum, either follow the rules of the commons or leave.
She needed to get out of this situation and this was cold water to the face.
It was a wake-up call. I was wondering if I was going to end up back on the street for falling asleep in someone else's room. No. I am getting out of this.
At a place she cherishes.
Baldwin lived in the commons for a year before moving to a small apartment on Fourth street. The Lafayette Housing Authority offered a rental subsidy to individuals who signed a one-year lease through the Permanent Supportive Housing program.
Baldwin has a stable job and a small apartment.
You may see her walking down the street. She has spiky blond hair and an infectious smile.
Baldwin believes she can help people who are teetered and tottering just like she was when she was in the system.
The nonprofit needs winter clothes or money if they are interested in donating. They have a website at lthc.net.
Noe is a reporter. Email him at Npadilla@jconline.com and follow him on social media.
The story of a Lafayette woman's story of six figures to homeless was originally published on the Journal & Courier.
