Grand Rapids Man helps the mentally ill recognize their need for help

By Terri Finch Hamilton The Grand Rapids Press GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- The people Clyde Sims helps on the streets of Grand Rapids often are homeless, addicted to drugs and sometimes did time in jail. But there's one thing they don't want to accept: their mental illness. "They say, 'Call me anything but crazy,'" Sims said. It's his job to change their minds and get them help. Sims, 63, is a peer support specialist for Street Reach, a Cherry Street Health Services program that seeks out people with mental illness and substance abuse and gets them treatment. Sims has been there. After serving in the Vietnam War, "I came back on a stretcher," he says, his right leg amputated. A close friend was killed in an ambush when Sims was shot in the leg. He was awarded a Bronze Star but struggled for years, believing he didn't deserve it. "They made me out to be John Wayne," he said, "but I was just a scared kid." He started to cry. "I'll be OK in a minute," he said. Back home in Grand Rapids, Sims was in and out of mental health facilities, his diagnoses over the years including schizophrenia, manic depression, post traumatic stress disorder. He's been an addict and alcoholic. He uses all of that now. It fuels his compassion. "When we see people in a bad condition, our first thought is, 'What's wrong with them?'" Sims said. "If we really cared, we should say, 'I wonder what happened?'" He said many of those he helps think they are bad people. "I tell them, 'You're not doing anything wrong -- it's broken up in there. You have a condition." Sims has hung out under bridges and set up with coffee on the streets of Heartside. He has convinced people to get assessed by Street Reach clinicians and meet with psychiatrists. He has helped them find places to live. Telling his story is part of his mission, he says. "People need a starting point," he says. "They see me, a guy who has come from walking the streets out of my mind to where I am now." Sims is on the board of Network 180, the mental health authority for Kent County. "Going into recovery saved my life," he said. He goes to a 12-step program meeting every day. In May, he'll celebrate 25 years clean and sober. "There are a lot of people I've hurt," Sims said. "I have to apologize to anybody I hurt during my mental illness." He pauses, thinking. "When you've hurt a lot of people, you want to help a lot of people," he said. "I want to get them thinking, 'Maybe I'm not homeless because I'm bad. Maybe I'm bipolar. Maybe I need to get off these drugs.' "God has taken my mess," he said, "and made it my message." Published: Tue, Dec 6, 2011