Raised – $6883
Thirty percent of the homeless are mentally ill. This is partly due to a mass exodus of patients from public mental hospitals, which started in the 60s and is known as ‘patient dumping’. In September of this year, California sued Nevada for this very practice. Due to budget cuts, doctors allegedly told patients that Nevada lacked sufficient funding for affordable housing and mental health care services and that they would have better luck seeking care elsewhere. Patients were reportedly discharged at a bus terminal with two or three day’s worth of medication, some snacks, and a one-way bus ticket to California.
Absolutely amazing that this practice has been going on for over half a century. Sadly ‘patient dumping’ is indicative of how abhorrently our society treats people with mental illnesses. A disease of the brain is not seen nor treated the same way as a disease of the heart, kidney or any other body part. Rather it is something to be hidden, feared and too often ignored. Unfortunately, this injurious attitude deeply impacts the 6% of our population who suffer from a severe mental illness. That’s 1 in 17 adults. When treated people can live normal productive lives such as Elyn Saks (view TED talk here) a Yale law school graduate who has lived with bipolar schizophrenia for over 30 years. Untreated though …. it’s a very different story.
… those good and generous people who fought with me – and for me – and who waited to welcome me back from that agonized lonely place. Together they forged a bond of courage, creativity, integrity and an unshakable belief that my shattered self could become healed and whole. I used to say that these people saved me but I
Eleanor Longden
know now they did something even more important they empowered me to save myself.
The local, Arapahoe/Douglas County, chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) will be our 2013 wine/cheese tasting beneficiary. NAMI is a grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. NAMI advocates for access to services, treatment, supports and research and is steadfast in its commitment to raise awareness and build a community of hope for all of those in need.
For the last 18 years, NAMI has been there to help those who society has too often misunderstood, cast aside or just plain ignored.
Join us on September 23rd, 2013 and help us not only support NAMI Arapahoe/Douglas County but perhaps begin an even deeper change within our community.
It’s time.