Sometimes, the encouragement of a friend can mean so much to someone in dire circumstances, who is desperate for a way out.

Annie Ruth Thomas — one of the many successes at the Perry Wellness Center — said that Mary Thompson’s encouragement, among other interventions, gave her the courage she needed to move out of what Thomas called “the projects,” and into her own apartment off Lonnie Lane.

“It had gotten bad, and it was making me depressed,” Thomas said. “I wanted to move to a new place.”

Thomas described the housing project as “drug infested,” and she said she was “scared to sleep.”

“I’ve been knowing Stuart (Perry) for a long time,” Thomas said, of how she became acquainted with the Perry Wellness Center. “He told me to come and exercise.”

So, she went to the Perry Wellness Center, and that’s where she met Thompson, who coordinates activities at the center. They became friends.

“I kept praying and talking to Mary about it,” Thomas said. She said she would come to the center and tell of the fights and shootings that went on in her housing project.

Thomas said if it wasn’t for Thompson, she never would have had the courage to move out.

“She encouraged me,” Thomas said of Thompson, with a smile.

A homemaker, Thomas is divorced with two children and six grandchildren. She attends Perry Grove Baptist Church in Leslie, and she enjoys singing and cooking.

When asked what advice she would give someone who is struggling with depression, or just feeling blue, Thomas said, “I would tell them to pray and find somebody you can trust to talk with.”

She said she would also encourage them to come to the Perry Wellness Center, “a place to come, have friends and be free.

“If you have a problem and you feel all alone, check out the Perry Wellness Center,” Thomas said.

Activities at the center includes group sessions, exercise equipment and activities on Fridays. There is also a staff psychiatrist who works with patients.

For more information, contact the Perry Wellness Center at 931-4404, or visit the center at 207 U.S. Highway 280 West of Americus.