LAUGHTER IS CONTAGIOUS
 

"We call each other Lucy and Ethel," she says with a smile. Sylvia Fuller, three-year PHG native is talking about herself and Resource Coordinator, Scarlett Williams. The two have become a great team and are at the heart of the Pacific community. 

Sylvia Fuller moved into the Pacific Hotel from a shelter in 1999. Since then, she's learned that laughter is an essential part of every day. Fuller battles mental illness, yet has successfully stabilized in housing with the help of many, including Williams and her case manager at Seattle Mental Health.

Becoming a part of the PHG family has helped Fuller become much more outgoing, and has eased her feelings of loneliness. A writer and poet, last year she joined with other tenants in a weekly writer's group. Assisted by Social Services, the creative contingent even published a book of their works. Although they don't meet any more, Fuller still continues to write for the fun and therapy of it, and has notebooks filled with journal entries, poems and letters. 

She is an active member of the PHG community, and can be found at most every event, often as a volunteer Williams relies on. "She has been my right hand for most events in the Pacific, always going the extra mile to help out. Sylvia, AKA Lucy, is always ready with a smile and a helping hand.  She is a great role model for staff and tenants around community involvement and volunteerism." 

Fellow tenants count on Fuller's contagious giggles during the weekly "Sylvia's Coffee Hour." At this year's PHG Halloween party, decked out from head-to-toe as a sorceress, she ran away with first prize in the costume contest. And as she received her award, her familiar, laughter lit up the room--proving once again that laughter is contagious!