Finding My Path: Ruben, Adolescent Skills Center Participant
One connection can lead to another. For Ruben, reaching out for help connected him to housing support, education, employment, and a renewed sense of purpose.
Finding My Path is a collection of first-person stories from participants in Vibrant Emotional Health programs. Each story reflects the challenges they’ve faced, the triumphs they’ve achieved, and the path they’ve forged toward healing and hope.
For Ruben, that journey began at Vibrant’s Adolescent Skills Center (ASC). When Ruben first connected with the ASC, he was navigating housing instability, uncertainty about his purpose, and having thoughts of suicide.
Through support from his ASC Employment Specialist, Tomar, he accessed housing resources, educational opportunities, and employment support that helped him build stability and reconnect with himself and his future goals. Today, Ruben is pursuing a career in culinary arts and helping others through his work in a Harlem food pantry.
Finding My Path
By Ruben, Adolescent Skills Center participant
What have I been doing?
I don’t know.
I know that I’ve been attending Coop Tech, a trade school in Manhattan.
Tomar, my Employment Specialist at the Bronx ASC, helped me with the application. She helped me gain enough confidence to want to get help. I chose culinary, if you were wondering. I chose it because at that time [around graduation], that was all I knew how to do. It was a trade that helped me imagine some type of future rather than none.
At that time, I didn’t even want to live anymore. I graduated in June 2024. 2025… Wow. I survived 2025. Isn’t that crazy?
You may be reading this and thinking, “Why is this person getting so personal?”
It’s not just that it’s personal—it’s the fact that I discharged myself from Vibrant. The discharge was all a part of the plan.
“What plan?” you might ask. The plan to distance myself from this earth. The plan to discharge myself from this place of existence. At the time, I had convinced myself there wasn’t a future for me. Leaving ASC felt like another step toward giving up.
But I didn’t.
“Woo-hoo!,” you might think. But the truth is, I still wonder why I’m here. I am glad, though. I am glad that I reached out for help.
When Tomar connected me to Covenant House, a shelter centered around homeless youth, it was the first time in a long time that I felt like I had somewhere safe to land. I asked myself, “Does that mean I’m… free?” I’m not in that cage anymore. I can fly as far as my wings can take me.
Now it’s too personal, huh? But hey, I’m just here. I’m just being honest.
When I needed a job, guess what? I reached out to Tomar. And you want to know what she did? She got me a job. I’m currently working in a food pantry in Harlem. And wow, I’m glad she hooked me up. I’m surrounded by caring people who just want to help those in need. I was nervous at first but—whew. Now I’m glad I work there. It made me realize I wanted to help. It gave me a purpose.
Maybe now I do know what I’ve been doing. I’m working. I’m helping people. I’m building a future I once couldn’t imagine having. All because I reached out. All because I wanted to do something with my life. My story’s not done, and that’s because I was given a pen to write my book.
So yeah, I guess that answers that question.
Ruben’s story is one example of how support can connect people to more support.
Whether you are a parent, youth, or working age adult, every person’s mental health story is unique. That’s why our community-based programs are tailored to the individual needs of each person. We work directly with people at all stages of life to offer support, connect them to the services they need, and help them build fulfilling lives.
Whether you’re facing mental health struggles, emotional distress, alcohol or drug use concerns, or just need someone to talk to, our caring counselors are here for you. You are not alone.
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