Unlocking Pathways to Housing: Meet Sonny
Sonny Gattone is a Certified Recovery Specialist (CRS) and a Certified Peer Specialist (CPS), which means he obtained a credential for individuals with personal, lived experience in their own substance use and mental health recovery. At Pathways, we’ve developed several roles that allow staff with CPS or CRS credentials as a result of input from our participants and staff. Those with lived experience of the same issues that our participants are dealing with day in and day out have a better understanding of their unique challenges, and are also able to better advocate for our participants when needed. That connection ultimately helps our participants to trust Pathways and the work we do together.
Sonny joined Pathways in 2022 as a MAT Care Coordinator. He works alongside several other Care Coordinators who all support participants in recovery from Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). We’re currently seeing about 200 participants each month through our OUD Center of Excellence (COE), which is a program that provides medication for opioid use disorder that supports individuals in their recovery.
Our team followed Sonny for a few hours on a typical day this spring to learn more about what he works on with participants. After our monthly All Staff meeting at the office, our first stop was Melissa’s home, who immediately shared with us her success at reducing her use of opioids. She’s very proud, as she should be, of drastically reducing her use, and she credits Sonny and the COE team for supporting her through it. Sonny also provided Melissa with a Transpass in order to get to and from her treatment site. He also arranged to meet her at the site the following day, and encouraged her to visit our clinic to address a wound on her foot.
Next, we moved over to Sarn’s apartment, which he’s lived in for three years. He cleaned ahead of our visit, and is super proud of his space and the way he’s decorated it. This is just a regular check in for Sonny and Sarn, talking through where he is with his recovery. We chatted about Sarn’s family, who he was in touch with for the first time in 20 years, and how working with Pathways helped Sarn to reconnect. Sonny and Sarn connected on their shared struggles to be in touch with their families.
The third stop for Sonny that day was Angelica’s apartment, where she shared the furniture she’s been refinishing in her spare time. She grabs pieces from the street and sands, strips, and paints them into brand-new pieces. Her current project is a table from the 1930’s that can transition to seat anywhere from two to eight or more with the addition of a hidden leaf. Sonny’s role in this visit was to make arrangements for Angelica to start taking medication for opioid use disorder, which she was enthusiastic about beginning. She had previously shared her one requirement to starting treatment with Sonny, and he was able to connect her to a program that fit her needs.
Our last visit of the day, which was not Sonny’s last stop of the day, was with Alan. Alan recently moved into an apartment in North Philly, and he shared with us how happy he is with the location. He’s nearby several different programs he’s active with, including Pathways, and he’s been taking medication for opioid use disorder for a while now. Sonny is working with Alan to connect him to a new integrated treatment option that will connect behavioral, mental, and physical health services all in the same place. Alan also talked with Sonny about pursuing his CRS certification, so that he can ultimately help others who have had similar experiences.
After leaving Alan’s place, Sonny headed off to his next visit. He’s a quiet but positive guy who spent a large chunk of his day cheering participants on in their recovery journey. He never hesitated to bring up their successes and progress to remind them of what they’ve already accomplished, and he never seemed tired by the pace of his day. It was clear to us that our participants are responsive to Sonny due to his positive attitude, thoughtful insights, and understanding of their struggles, and we’re so grateful to have many staff like Sonny who help us to achieve our mission.
