Mental health resilience is built through awareness, shared experience, and meaningful human connection, as reflected in this journey of growth and healing.
Florence has been with Interim, Inc. for over 20 years- but her journey began long before that.
Born in Korea and raised in Marina, Florence grew up navigating the complexities of culture, family, expectations, and undiagnosed mental illness. After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she returned to Monterey County, but faced rejection at home. “My mom didn’t understand mental illness,” Florence shares. “She didn’t want to. She was embarrassed.”
Those early experiences shaped Florence’s deep understanding of what it means to feel unseen and misunderstood – feelings that so many of Interim’s clients have faced. Her story reminds us that stigma can wound as deeply as illness itself, but compassion and acceptance can facilitate healing and resilience.
Florence eventually found herself at a women’s shelter. “They didn’t know what to do with me” she recalls.Â
“They said I didn’t look like someone from the streets. They called Maria Lindley, the former director of the Interim’s MCHOME program, and she came and got me that same day.”
That moment wasn’t just a rescue. It was the beginning of belonging. Interim became the place where Florence’s strength was seen, and where her recovery could take root.
Florence’s journey took her through several Interim housing programs: Shelter Cove, Sandy Shores, Mariposa, Catalyst, and now Horizons. Each place represented a different chapter in her recovery.
At Horizons, Florence has become a quiet leader. She often supports peers who are earlier in their recovery, especially those facing crisis or stigma.Â
“People say I have good energy. I make them laugh. I make them feel comfortable.” One peer even calls her a role model for her sobriety and empathy.
The Power of Lived Experience
Her compassion flows naturally from her lived experience. Florence knows the courage it takes to start over, and she embodies the idea that recovery is both personal and shared, made stronger when we lift one another up.
Her lived experience carries weight, not just because of what she’s survived, but because of how she chooses to show up. “Look at me,” Florence says, “I’m doing it. It’s not always easy, but it’s possible.”
Her resilience is quiet but powerful- a reminder that progress is measured not by perfection, but by persistence. Every day she shows that recovery is real and worth fighting for.
She still dreams of returning t work one day, perhaps in a part-time job that doesn’t strain her physically. Until then, she continues offering connection, wisdom, and kindness to the community around her.
“Your life is worth it,” she says. “Don’t sit there and suffer. Reach out.”
In her words and actions, Florence captures the essence of Interim’s purpose: meeting people where they are, and walking beside them until they can recover their own strength.