Posted by yxibow on February 28, 2007, at 2:02:26
In reply to Re: From 'Inmates' to 'Clients'.. » Jay, posted by Phillipa on February 26, 2007, at 21:43:00
> Jay you know though in a way it reminds me of what has happened in the USA. Especially familiar in NYC the street people living in boxes with shopping carts flowing with trash are the attempts of deinstitutionalizing the mentally ill here. Love Phillipa
Its a huge problem in Seattle, my former college love and hopefully future. Seattle has some of the highest homeless populations, and they include a number of homeless teenagers, among them a number who were kicked out because of their homosexuality.
It also is a gigantic problem in an unnamed coastal city near where I live, and the views go back and forth around it. There is contentions about "feedings", charities who give meals to the homeless on the bluffs and create a spectacle. Its a spectacle regardless, with people talking to voices and generally making the decorum of the area a blight in the eyes of many.This started with the closing of numerous institutions in California in the late 60s due to budget cuts under a certain well known governor, if I recall correctly. What people need is proper medical help and a restoration of their dignity to what is humanly possible, including medication and therapy. There have been pilot projects by such people as the Salvation Army who have built "halfway houses" for homeless families on otherwise wasted land. They actually blend well into the scenery and you would never know that they are homeless residences.
A new name though for all of us who suffer as patients from biological disorders, I believe promoted both by certain parts of the medical establishment and I think NAMI, is "consumers". It creates a better sense of dignity that we use resources, we consume resources of help for the ills that we face. It is likely that you will see this name if you live in an area progressive enough to use it.-- tidings.
poster:yxibow
thread:736569
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070224/msgs/736963.html