Jimmy Sabala, 51, spent Wednesday enjoying the sun. That wasn't the case on Monday and Tuesday.
"It started getting dark and I knew they weren't coming for me," Sabala said. "So I was out all night."
Sabala's sister said Jimmy has schizophrenia, is suicidal, has diabetes along with high blood pressure and has the mental capacity of a 12-year-old.
He goes to adult day centers to socialize. On Monday, he was forced to wait for his cab outside when CHEEERS Recovery Center in Phoenix, which closed at 4 p.m.
But that cab never arrived. From 4 p.m. on Monday until 7 a.m. on Tuesday the man waited, wearing just a sweater over his shirt.
"I was scared, I thought something would happen to me at night," he said. "I kept warm with my jacket, I put my jacket over my head and covered my ears."
Sabala's sister is furious. She can't understand why CHEERS doesn't require its employees to wait until the last client is picked up for the day.
"What if this would've been a 90-year-old man out there?" she said.
The only help he had was from two homeless men. Jimmy said they sat with him and gave him a sleeping bag to keep warm.
He spent a day in the hospital to get his blood sugar levels back to normal.
He said he doesn't plan to ever go back to CHEEERS after the incident.
"I regret being there," he said.
CHEEERS President and CEO Kristina Sabetta said she cannot comment on specific incidents because of federal law, but sent us the following statement:
"'Participants' are adults who come and go from our facility in a number of different ways. Participation in our services is completely voluntary. At intake, each person we serve is notified that they must have transportation to and from our center. Daily reminders to arrange transportation are also issued. CHEEERS staff assist when needed."
"They apologized," Sabala said. "What's done is done."
It is unknown if the facility plans to make any changes.
