Comments on: Denver rids parks of homeless meals; charity says DNC is to blame

By: carpet cleaning miami

carpet cleaning miami — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 01:18:52 +0000

Giving them food is not a solution to their problem.. If the government will give them houses and jobs, the problem will be solve..If only the government will use their fund for this..BUZZ!!!!

By: carpet cleaning miami

carpet cleaning miami — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:18:52 +0000

Giving them food is not a solution to their problem.. If the government will give them houses and jobs, the problem will be solve..If only the government will use their fund for this..BUZZ!!!!

By: Bradley Christian

Bradley Christian — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:05:58 +0000

The public parks belongs to everyone (including the homeless). Where batter place to feed the homeless then where they are. I was once homeless myself in Denver I felt greeted by the homeless(for the most part) and the people that feed us.

By: Bradley Christian

Bradley Christian — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:05:58 +0000

By: wildflower

wildflower — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:05:41 +0000

Piscean, I think you hit the nail on the head.... without the medication the mentally ill need (and the medical supervision, bloodwork, etc. that psychotropics require), they can't stay off the street, so the program does them no good. I wonder if Denver's "Road Home" is aware of that (?)

I'm very sorry for your situation, the cost of prescriptions is outrageous. I wonder if pharmaceutical companies didn't spend so much money advertising they could lower the cost considerably.

I know of a person who was severely injured, unable to work, and had a number of health problems and could not afford the prescriptions..she said she contacted the drug companies of the needed medications i.e. companies like Pfizer or Merck or whoever (I don't know which companies) and found some plans for people who couldn't afford the meds and was able to obtain some medication free.

Have you tried that?

I tried to find an expensive prescription med for a college student whose insurance co. would only pay the generic, (and the generic didn't work) and was unsuccessful finding a free program on that one med though, but it still might be worth a try.

I'm so glad you have a family to help, but it's a shame the State of Colorado can't help you out instead.

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By: piscean13

piscean13 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:30:19 +0000

I see comments about getting the mentally ill off the streets, but I see nothing about the cost of the medication needed to keep them off. The state of Colorado does nothing to help with the high cost of medication. If I did not have a loving family I would not be able to afford the $300 a month for my meds. Simply housing these people or shoving them indoors will not alleviate the problem of the mentally ill homeless. Help for those that are homeless or low income to afford their meds is the only solution.

By: purplepatriot

purplepatriot — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 19:50:27 +0000

Ms. Zeveloff,

We may agree more than you think. My point was that leaving the mentally or physically impaired homeless on the streets to fend for themselves isn't working. Society has a moral obligation to address their needs as humanely as it can.

Regarding the sociopathic and criminal elements, society also has an obligation to uphold a generally agreed upon standard of acceptable public behavior. If it doesn't, we can forget any hope of living in a civil urban community. Without an insistance on public standards, all things will be debased to the lowest levels of vulgarity. It's that fact, and the fear it engenders, that has driven some to avoid public places or to "gated communities" where their idea of acceptable social interaction will be upheld. What a terrible loss to be frightened of one's own city!

Over half of the world's population now lives in cities. Cities will be under enormous pressure as urban populations continue to grow. If cities are to function as home, workplace and sanctuary for millions, they must become safer, more beautiful and more livable. Street beggars, addicts and drunks don't fit into that picture. I don't suggest they conform to someone else's idea of "normal", but to a shared, communal idea of civility.

By: wildflower

wildflower — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:51:54 +0000

Community Mental Health Centers Act (CMAC)..signed into law by JFK

October 31, 1963. Implementation stalled by Vietnam War.

"However, there was yet an increase in the number of community health centers and a decrease in the number of patients on the inpatient wards of mental hospitals."

"Another development in the 1970s was the discharge of a greater number of the severely and persistently mentally ill (SPMI) from mental hospitals."

"In 1980 the Mental Health Systems Act was signed into law.It outlined the basics of a national system for mental health community care and treatment. Newly sworn in as president, Ronald Reagan nullified this policy almost immediately, stressing that federal funds must be cut."

source:

20th Century History of the Treatment of Mental Illness: A Review

http://www.mentalhealthworld.org/29ap.html

By: truthseeker

truthseeker — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:19:16 +0000

The statement about Reagan is a lie. The truth is that mental hospitals were emptied out of long term patients in the 1970's. That was long before Reagan became President. It was advocates for the mentally ill who demanded that patients be released from state mental health facilities. It is outrageous to try and smear Reagan with this lie! He had absolutely nothing to do with causing the mentally ill to end up on the streets. In NYC in the 1970's there was a mentally ill homeless crisis that came about as a result of liberal groups demanding freedom for mental patients. To try and blame it on the Right not funding treatment and hospitals is nothing but a big lie.