Mr. Wilson’s current goal is to found a nonprofit agency: the Organization for Mental Wellness and Upward Mobility. He has gathered letters of support, attended a grant-writing seminar and sought pro bono legal advice.

“I’m not giving up,” he said of the project.

The pilot program, Taking Back My Dignity, would help adults battling mental illness and substance abuse by teaching them life skills and providing job opportunities. Mr. Wilson believes that this specialized approach of offering redemption to society’s rebuked will end recidivism, something he knows about all too well.

Mr. Wilson attends weekly therapy sessions, takes medication regularly and has a home health aide for 10 hours a day. Additionally, he finds support at his church, Kingdom Christian Cultural Center, specifically from its pastor, James N. Hassell.

Although he has been offered a round-the-clock aide who could intervene if he is ever tempted to hurt himself, Mr. Wilson has refused.

Silence and solitude may court disaster, he said, but he believes these battles are his to fight and to overcome. To that end, he keeps his television on at all times, even at night. Its blaring volume is audible from several doors down his apartment hallway.

“I have to have stuff loud to drown out the voices in my head,” Mr. Wilson said. “If I sit down and listen to them all day, I’ll be in here fighting a losing battle.”