Dawn Viggiani

I'm a senior case manager at ACMH, Inc., where I work with individuals with serious mental illness (SMI). Right now, I'm in scatter sites, but I'm in the process of transitioning to a congregate setting, where I'll be working within the building. We are funded by OMH, and I carry a caseload of roughly 15 people. In the past, I've had more, so this is pretty good. I started in social services in 2015 when I was changing direction in my career and decided that into my golden years, I wanted to be a psychotherapist. I began my MSW at NYU, but unfortunately, I fell to an illness, so I had to leave the program. I then picked it up again at Silberman, which is part of Hunter College, where I'm doing that now. I am going to be 62 in July, and I intend on being a psychotherapist as I retire. Outside of social services, in my earlier incarnation, I was an artist. I'm not practicing now, but that sensibility stays with you, and I am in the process of writing a memoir, but I've put it on hold until school is over. I have worked for various nonprofits in my trajectory in social services.