Tom was initially admitted to HomeBase with a list of psychiatric problems, depression and mood disorder. He had an extensive history of mental illness. Five previous suicide attempts had resulted in several psychiatric hospitalizations. Tom talked about his life for the past 12 years. The picture he painted was one of chronically low self-esteem, feelings of abandonment and mood swings. He described his mother as being highly abusive. "The household I grew up in was chaos", he said. Tom's mother reportedly had a history of mental illness. She was later placed in prison and Tom moved in with his father and stepmother. "My relationship with my stepmother was not a good one, in fact I'd say it was downright hostile", Tom said.

After entering the Transitional Living Program Tom was stabilized on medications and was very productive the first 6 months. Shortly after this time, his stepmother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. At this point Tom began to decline and was unable to function in the program. He could not follow the rules and had difficulty with any kind of structure. Tom was discharged from TLP due to these problems.

Tom arrived at the HomeBase Outreach Center again six months later, claiming he had been evicted from his apartment. He had stopped taking his medications and was feeling very depressed and discouraged. He admitted to having "no friends" and little social support. His goals to reenter the program included scheduling a psychiatric evaluation. He promised to begin taking his psychotropic medications again if needed and not to stop without the permission of his psychiatrist. Tom also began one on one therapy sessions once a week.

Tom chose to work on his issues of low self esteem, his tendency to isolate himself and the grief associated with his stepmother who passed away shortly after he left the program the first time. Tom has made great progress, he is visibly brighter and he has established several meaningful friendships. He also has held steady job during his time in residence. Most importantly, Tom has rekindled his relationship with his father. He feels good inside for the first time in his life. Tom has learned how to turn his negative thoughts into positive ones. The staff at HomeBase, the other kids living at the Center, Tom's employer and his family have all noticed the changes and recognize Tom for the strides he has made.