The first thing one notices about Charles Stampley is his contagious laughter and endearing smile. Serving as the team leader of the Program of Assertive Community Treatment program at Warren Yazoo Behavioral Health Services, his job can be challenging at times. But with a dedicated heart and loving spirit, he is exactly where he needs to be.
“Our team has become almost like a family,” Stampley said. “And it is because of the family-like atmosphere among us that makes our jobs run smoothly. In truth, we almost become like family with our patients. I couldn’t be happier in what we are doing here.”
The PACT program at the local center serves individuals who don’t respond well to traditional settings. The seven-member team work hand-in-hand with other specialists to ensure the patient can function on a healthy, daily basis.
“I like to say that we are a mental health agency on wheels,” Stampley said. “We are almost like a self-contained agency with everything we need within our team and program. And the individuals we work with may not respond well in traditional settings, but it is not always because they are resistant to it. We just ensure that they receive the services they need from medications to appointments to living conditions to money management…we cover it all. And we go directly to them.”
Stampley joined the Warren Yazoo family in 2011, and he admits he has been within the program since “day one.”
“Social work always spoke to me,” he said. “I knew I was called to do this kind of work.”
Bonnie Pettigrew-Strong, the PACT peer support specialist, joined the team about four years ago.
“I like to think that we bring hope back to the hopeless,” she said. “I don’t want our individuals to feel like their diagnosis defines them. We are here for them to know that.”
After an individual is referred to the PACT through the main office, Stampley and his team get right to work. Heading out three to four times a week, the team contacts each individual to ensure they are heading in the right direction.
“It is our goal to keep the individual out of the hospital, stable and on their medications,” Stampley said. “We go way beyond just mental health. We want to deal with each person to improve their quality of life, simple things like buying groceries or paying their bills. We want to help them with daily living.”
“Whatever it takes” is the team’s motto, and Stampley said the team truly operates as a team to get the job done…whatever it takes.
“I tip my hat to our staff,” Stampley said. “They are the ones out there doing an exceptional job.”
The team works with about 60 individuals. And they also meet quarterly with an advisory committee to keep their efforts running smoothly.
“There are so many stories that stick out with me, but it really feels rewarding to me when I can maybe find someone their own place to live,” Stampley said. “We have had people surfing from couch to couch. I even had one young man who was living in an abandoned house. Creating a support system and getting them in their own home, handling daily activities…that is what success means to me.”
The team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Stampley said they are literally “a phone call away.”
“We want to be their advocates, their support system,” he said. “And we become almost like their family. There are times when they tell me they love me. ‘I love you.’ That is a testimony to what we are doing.”
