Share the Spirit: Anka Behavioral Health, Inc. helps turn mom’s life around

Anka staffers Chris Withrow, from left, Brenda Shebanek and Cathy Rodriguez pose for a photograph at the Henry Robinson Center, Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010 in Oakland, Calif. The non-profit agency provides services and shelter for the homeless. (D. Ross Cameron/Staff). Adrianna King needed to ditch her pride. Homeless, with three young boys, she checked into the Henry Robinson Multi-Services Center in Oakland in January.

It was the second time she had done so in as many years. The electricity had been shut off at her Richmond apartment and she couldn’t pay bills. Fights with her boyfriend were escalating into violence.

“I had to put my pride aside and make sure the children had what they needed,” said King, 25, in an interview at the busy downtown Oakland center. She talked frankly about what she went through when she was younger, including a period of drug use after watching her parents go through the same.

King is adamant that her boys will take a different path.

“I want them to have a better life than I had growing up,” said King, who is originally from Oakland and was placed in a foster family at age 12.

King is now looking forward to the holidays and the future. She has been accepted for an apartment in the San Francisco Housing Authority, where she plans to move next year. The Robinson center has helped her find a way in the world for herself and her boys, she said.

“The program here definitely works,” King said. She paused, and then added, “It works, but people really have to want to change.”

The Oakland facility provides transitional housing for 54 families for up to two years, as well as a variety of support services including meals and children’s programs. At the moment, it’s fully occupied by families, with 84 children living on the premises. Clients can get access to therapy, find jobs and housing and learn how to manage money before moving into permanent homes. A drop-in service for homeless clients is also managed at the site.

The Robinson center is operated by Concord-based Anka Behavioral Health, a nonprofit organization with a network of services around the state including facilities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Anka is one of 33 local nonprofit organizations that will benefit from money raised during Bay Area News Group’s annual Share the Spirit campaign.

From this year’s campaign, $6,000 will be spent on homeless clients at local centers and shelters run by Anka. For many, the gifts and holiday food they receive will be their only presents.

The sluggish economy has resulted in increased demand for services, said Chris Withrow, Anka executive vice president. “We’re seeing more need out there than ever before,” he said.

The organization is gearing up to open a winter shelter this week at the Oakland Army Base that will provide resources and help homeless individuals during the colder months.

“The Share the Spirit money makes all the difference,” said Brenda Shebanek, Anka’s regional director for homeless services. “If it weren’t for that, we would really be at a loss.”

King said the Anka program has made a big difference in her life. She is sober, and has training under her belt from Laney College’s culinary arts program and can work to help pay the bills.

During two years at Henry Robinson, she has attended therapy by herself and with her boys, to help break a self-destructive lifestyle, and her sons can talk frankly about the things they’ve experienced.

“I want them to know it’s OK to cry and talk about things,” King said.

James, 8, and Nathanial, 6, have easy smiles. On a recent morning in the center’s playroom, Nathanial carried around a toy police radio in his pocket, eager to demonstrate how it worked, while James played at another table with a boy. They are enjoying school and 17-month-old Malachi — born after King moved into the center — is thriving, too, King said.

If she hadn’t found a spot at the Robinson center, King said she probably wouldn’t have been able to pull herself up.

She shook her head. “I’d probably be stuck on stupid.”