Anonymous
01/27/2022 14:32
Subject: Re:Homeless tents creeping into the nice/residential part of DC
Anonymous wrote:Is the Days Inn on Conn Ave that had the shootout yesterday still being used as an overflow shelter? The one with 70 nuisance complaints since July? I hope the victims who are still alive quickly recover .
It was, but no longer is. The shooting victims were attending a party in one of the hotel rooms, according to the police.
Anonymous
01/27/2022 14:27
Subject: Re:Homeless tents creeping into the nice/residential part of DC
Is the Days Inn on Conn Ave that had the shootout yesterday still being used as an overflow shelter? The one with 70 nuisance complaints since July? I hope the victims who are still alive quickly recover .
Anonymous
01/27/2022 13:30
Subject: Re:Homeless tents creeping into the nice/residential part of DC
Anonymous wrote:I have more homeless/mentally ill stories:
1. The front desk just told me this homeless guy with his dog came in and wanted to charge his phone. He sleeps on the steps of a nearby church. He was told to leave. Apparently he gets a monthly check of more than $900.00 (front desk knew the exact amount down to the penny). He has asked me for money, clothes, toilitries. He can get a room and a job. He's a young guy, wears clean clothes, dog looks well fed and healthy.
2. In another building I lived in, 3 neighbors had severe mental illnesses. Really unique backgrounds. One gay woman from VA was in a mental hospital for suicide. I found out the hard way after she talked me into listing her as a reference on my ssdi benefit application. She lied, instead of confirming mobility issues following botched surgeries, she cited HER psychological diagnosis as my reason for applying for disability. I have never been diagnosed or treated for anything psychological. She said she had to do it because her father died a homeless black man on the streets of DC and the benefits should go to people like him, not me. She said I would have been approved based on the medical facts for the orthopedic conditions, but knew the psychological would get me denied because there is no proof or medical diagosis, and it would appear like I was trying to obtain benefits I wasn't entitled to. This way, the resources go to the black population, homeless, and people like her uncle who had just been released from prison, I think for murder. She said the system is running out of money and Obama wants all resources to go to the black community. She has a bizarre on-line presence and identity issues.
3. Another was a gay guy from NY state whose parents support him. He is a lifelong student. Can't work, too mentally ill. Had violent outbusts if i didn't listen to his troubles. His prominent father who he claimed had influence over a hospital issue was just a lie. He claimed he came from a prominent legal and medical family who is well connected. He just wanted to come over and tell me his problems.
4. Another woman from Mississippi. Her mom an accomplished scientist, left her a million dollar inheritance. She squandered it on a $10,000 a month apartment in West Chelsea in NYC before moving to DC. She would sleep in our lobby instead of her apartment, panhandle outside my apartment door, and eat all of my food when I let her in. Once she tried sleeping in my apartment too. She demanded to see my disability paperwork claiming she could help me apply because she worked for the SSA in Michigan. I told her absolutely not. She was really angry. Eventually, she was evicted or forced to move. Towards the end, she never showered and wore the same clothes everyday. She looked homeless, but wasn't. She would stand in the street for hours in front of the building, ripping paper and throwing piece by piece into traffic.
All these former neighbors have siblings and/or parents.
5. There are these two characters that repeatedly approach me with elaborate stories for money. They each appear at the same locations, and out of nowhere. One is a guy on a bike that always needs exactly $8 for emergency cab fare because his daughter has always had an accident and is at the Howard ER with burn injuries.
6. The other guy and his girlfriend always just moved today from Minneapolis into the apartment on the corner and their car was towed with their wallets and they always need $60. He always says how embarrassed he is to ask for money and they don't know anyone in DC.
****In story #3 my former neighbor told his psychiatrist details of a medical malpractice incident at the same hospital I had surgery. Indirectly his psychiatrist, is a colleague of my surgeon, even if not in the same department. He caused me massive legal issues instead of using his family connections to help resolve an issue. I've lived in many apartments in major cities, and never knew anyone who was mentally ill.
Anonymous
01/27/2022 13:25
Subject: Re:Homeless tents creeping into the nice/residential part of DC
Anonymous wrote:I have more homeless/mentally ill stories:
1. The front desk just told me this homeless guy with his dog came in and wanted to charge his phone. He sleeps on the steps of a nearby church. He was told to leave. Apparently he gets a monthly check of more than $900.00 (front desk knew the exact amount down to the penny). He has asked me for money, clothes, toilitries. He can get a room and a job. He's a young guy, wears clean clothes, dog looks well fed and healthy.
2. In another building I lived in, 3 neighbors had severe mental illnesses. Really unique backgrounds. One gay woman from VA was in a mental hospital for suicide. I found out the hard way after she talked me into listing her as a reference on my ssdi benefit application. She lied, instead of confirming mobility issues following botched surgeries, she cited HER psychological diagnosis as my reason for applying for disability. I have never been diagnosed or treated for anything psychological. She said she had to do it because her father died a homeless black man on the streets of DC and the benefits should go to people like him, not me. She said I would have been approved based on the medical facts for the orthopedic conditions, but knew the psychological would get me denied because there is no proof or medical diagosis, and it would appear like I was trying to obtain benefits I wasn't entitled to. This way, the resources go to the black population, homeless, and people like her uncle who had just been released from prison, I think for murder. She said the system is running out of money and Obama wants all resources to go to the black community. She has a bizarre on-line presence and identity issues.
3. Another was a gay guy from NY state whose parents support him. He is a lifelong student. Can't work, too mentally ill. Had violent outbusts if i didn't listen to his troubles. His prominent father who he claimed had influence over a hospital issue was just a lie. He claimed he came from a prominent legal and medical family who is well connected. He just wanted to come over and tell me his problems.
4. Another woman from Mississippi. Her mom an accomplished scientist, left her a million dollar inheritance. She squandered it on a $10,000 a month apartment in West Chelsea in NYC before moving to DC. She would sleep in our lobby instead of her apartment, panhandle outside my apartment door, and eat all of my food when I let her in. Once she tried sleeping in my apartment too. She demanded to see my disability paperwork claiming she could help me apply because she worked for the SSA in Michigan. I told her absolutely not. She was really angry. Eventually, she was evicted or forced to move. Towards the end, she never showered and wore the same clothes everyday. She looked homeless, but wasn't. She would stand in the street for hours in front of the building, ripping paper and throwing piece by piece into traffic.
All these former neighbors have siblings and/or parents.
5. There are these two characters that repeatedly approach me with elaborate stories for money. They each appear at the same locations, and out of nowhere. One is a guy on a bike that always needs exactly $8 for emergency cab fare because his daughter has always had an accident and is at the Howard ER with burn injuries.
6. The other guy and his girlfriend always just moved today from Minneapolis into the apartment on the corner and their car was towed with their wallets and they always need $60. He always says how embarrassed he is to ask for money and they don't know anyone in DC.
****In story #3 my former neighbor told his psychiatrist details of a medical malpractice incident at the same hospital I had surgery. Indirectly his psychiatrist, is a colleague of my surgeon, even if not in the same department. He caused me massive legal issues instead of using his family connections to help resolve an issue. I've lived in many apartments in major cities, and never knew anyone who was mentally ill.
Anonymous
01/27/2022 09:01
Subject: Re:Homeless tents creeping into the nice/residential part of DC
I have more homeless/mentally ill stories:
1. The front desk just told me this homeless guy with his dog came in and wanted to charge his phone. He sleeps on the steps of a nearby church. He was told to leave. Apparently he gets a monthly check of more than $900.00 (front desk knew the exact amount down to the penny). He has asked me for money, clothes, toilitries. He can get a room and a job. He's a young guy, wears clean clothes, dog looks well fed and healthy.
2. In another building I lived in, 3 neighbors had severe mental illnesses. Really unique backgrounds. One gay woman from VA was in a mental hospital for suicide. I found out the hard way after she talked me into listing her as a reference on my ssdi benefit application. She lied, instead of confirming mobility issues following botched surgeries, she cited HER psychological diagnosis as my reason for applying for disability. I have never been diagnosed or treated for anything psychological. She said she had to do it because her father died a homeless black man on the streets of DC and the benefits should go to people like him, not me. She said I would have been approved based on the medical facts for the orthopedic conditions, but knew the psychological would get me denied because there is no proof or medical diagosis, and it would appear like I was trying to obtain benefits I wasn't entitled to. This way, the resources go to the black population, homeless, and people like her uncle who had just been released from prison, I think for murder. She said the system is running out of money and Obama wants all resources to go to the black community. She has a bizarre on-line presence and identity issues.
3. Another was a gay guy from NY state whose parents support him. He is a lifelong student. Can't work, too mentally ill. Had violent outbusts if i didn't listen to his troubles. His prominent father who he claimed had influence over a hospital issue was just a lie. He claimed he came from a prominent legal and medical family who is well connected. He just wanted to come over and tell me his problems.
4. Another woman from Mississippi. Her mom an accomplished scientist, left her a million dollar inheritance. She squandered it on a $10,000 a month apartment in West Chelsea in NYC before moving to DC. She would sleep in our lobby instead of her apartment, panhandle outside my apartment door, and eat all of my food when I let her in. Once she tried sleeping in my apartment too. She demanded to see my disability paperwork claiming she could help me apply because she worked for the SSA in Michigan. I told her absolutely not. She was really angry. Eventually, she was evicted or forced to move. Towards the end, she never showered and wore the same clothes everyday. She looked homeless, but wasn't. She would stand in the street for hours in front of the building, ripping paper and throwing piece by piece into traffic.
All these former neighbors have siblings and/or parents.
5. There are these two characters that repeatedly approach me with elaborate stories for money. They each appear at the same locations, and out of nowhere. One is a guy on a bike that always needs exactly $8 for emergency cab fare because his daughter has always had an accident and is at the Howard ER with burn injuries.
6. The other guy and his girlfriend always just moved today from Minneapolis into the apartment on the corner and their car was towed with their wallets and they always need $60. He always says how embarrassed he is to ask for money and they don't know anyone in DC.
1. The front desk just told me this homeless guy with his dog came in and wanted to charge his phone. He sleeps on the steps of a nearby church. He was told to leave. Apparently he gets a monthly check of more than $900.00 (front desk knew the exact amount down to the penny). He has asked me for money, clothes, toilitries. He can get a room and a job. He's a young guy, wears clean clothes, dog looks well fed and healthy.
2. In another building I lived in, 3 neighbors had severe mental illnesses. Really unique backgrounds. One gay woman from VA was in a mental hospital for suicide. I found out the hard way after she talked me into listing her as a reference on my ssdi benefit application. She lied, instead of confirming mobility issues following botched surgeries, she cited HER psychological diagnosis as my reason for applying for disability. I have never been diagnosed or treated for anything psychological. She said she had to do it because her father died a homeless black man on the streets of DC and the benefits should go to people like him, not me. She said I would have been approved based on the medical facts for the orthopedic conditions, but knew the psychological would get me denied because there is no proof or medical diagosis, and it would appear like I was trying to obtain benefits I wasn't entitled to. This way, the resources go to the black population, homeless, and people like her uncle who had just been released from prison, I think for murder. She said the system is running out of money and Obama wants all resources to go to the black community. She has a bizarre on-line presence and identity issues.
3. Another was a gay guy from NY state whose parents support him. He is a lifelong student. Can't work, too mentally ill. Had violent outbusts if i didn't listen to his troubles. His prominent father who he claimed had influence over a hospital issue was just a lie. He claimed he came from a prominent legal and medical family who is well connected. He just wanted to come over and tell me his problems.
4. Another woman from Mississippi. Her mom an accomplished scientist, left her a million dollar inheritance. She squandered it on a $10,000 a month apartment in West Chelsea in NYC before moving to DC. She would sleep in our lobby instead of her apartment, panhandle outside my apartment door, and eat all of my food when I let her in. Once she tried sleeping in my apartment too. She demanded to see my disability paperwork claiming she could help me apply because she worked for the SSA in Michigan. I told her absolutely not. She was really angry. Eventually, she was evicted or forced to move. Towards the end, she never showered and wore the same clothes everyday. She looked homeless, but wasn't. She would stand in the street for hours in front of the building, ripping paper and throwing piece by piece into traffic.
All these former neighbors have siblings and/or parents.
5. There are these two characters that repeatedly approach me with elaborate stories for money. They each appear at the same locations, and out of nowhere. One is a guy on a bike that always needs exactly $8 for emergency cab fare because his daughter has always had an accident and is at the Howard ER with burn injuries.
6. The other guy and his girlfriend always just moved today from Minneapolis into the apartment on the corner and their car was towed with their wallets and they always need $60. He always says how embarrassed he is to ask for money and they don't know anyone in DC.
Anonymous
01/27/2022 01:37
Subject: Re:Homeless tents creeping into the nice/residential part of DC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Most of the homeless are from dc or md. Few others may be originally from elsewhere, but moved to dc for work and lost their jobs.
Most from DC? What percentage, and where did you get that data? I ask because I hear a lot of non-DC accents among the homeless.
And how many who came here did in fact merely lose their jobs, no other issues like mental illness or addiction? If that's truly the case then why isn't anyone back home helping them get back on their feet?
DC creates the problems, let DC deal with the problems. IMHO they should be dumped in front of the Capitol and let the law makers deal with what they begat.
That is, without a doubt, the most moronic thing anyone has said in this thread. You should be embarrassed, PP.
First of all, DC didn't create the problem. DC does not even have federal representation. DC residents create NO federal policy of any kind. DC has no say in anything anyone does other than within city limits. Instead, policy is created by people from the REST of the country, THEY are the ones coming to DC making federal policy. Learn some damn civics, PP. Don't post idiotic nonsense in a politics board if you are that ignorant.
Secondly, whose fault is it? Most of the homeless are mentally ill or have other serious issues and can't hold down a job because of those disabilities. So are you going to blame them? Is it their own fault that they are mentally ill? Which party has ever bothered to actually try and help them? Republicans? Hell no. What Republican policies have ever done anything for the homeless? If anything, Republican policies have only ever resulted in cutting funds for mental health treatment and social programs to try and keep the homeless from starving in the street.
If they should be sent anywhere it should be send them to the offices and front yards of Republican members of Congress until they finally get the idea that having mentally ill people freezing and starving in the street isn't a good thing.
No offense, but DC has a largely Democrat mayor, council etc. Who legislate. We can certainly tackle homelessness. Instead we told the federal park police to NOT dismantle these camps, and so it continues that that "is the solution"
That is not a solution. But Park Police being shitty toward the homeless is not a solution either.
My proposal would be something like this:
1. Mental health evaluations
2. Evaluate where they are from. If they are not from DC, then someone else should be taking care of them and take whatever legal action necessary, whether getting their home communities to take them in or forcing their home communities to pay.
3. If they are a danger to themselves or anyone else, put them into an institution under supervised care
4. If they are not a danger to themselves, provide them with managed housing (not tents and not paying above market rate).
5. They are also responsible for the upkeep of the housing. Unsanitary behavior gets them referred to institutional care.
6. Integrated case management and assistance with clear timelines, milestones and objectives - for example treating substance addiction or helping those who just had an issue where they became homeless because they lost their job and couldn't pay rent and getting them back on a path to self sufficiency.
7. If the homeless don't like it, they can move to somewhere else with different policies with the homeless.
I'll read your points, but just want to be clear that park police clearing parks for health, hygeine and their intended purpose is not "being shitty"
DP. DC absolutely created this problem. It was 100% the mayor (D) and city council (all D) who came up with and implemented the DC plan to allow “camping” in all parkland in DC. That’s simply a fact.
+1 DC needs political diversity.
Anonymous
01/26/2022 17:17
Subject: Re:Homeless tents creeping into the nice/residential part of DC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Most of the homeless are from dc or md. Few others may be originally from elsewhere, but moved to dc for work and lost their jobs.
Most from DC? What percentage, and where did you get that data? I ask because I hear a lot of non-DC accents among the homeless.
And how many who came here did in fact merely lose their jobs, no other issues like mental illness or addiction? If that's truly the case then why isn't anyone back home helping them get back on their feet?
DC creates the problems, let DC deal with the problems. IMHO they should be dumped in front of the Capitol and let the law makers deal with what they begat.
That is, without a doubt, the most moronic thing anyone has said in this thread. You should be embarrassed, PP.
First of all, DC didn't create the problem. DC does not even have federal representation. DC residents create NO federal policy of any kind. DC has no say in anything anyone does other than within city limits. Instead, policy is created by people from the REST of the country, THEY are the ones coming to DC making federal policy. Learn some damn civics, PP. Don't post idiotic nonsense in a politics board if you are that ignorant.
Secondly, whose fault is it? Most of the homeless are mentally ill or have other serious issues and can't hold down a job because of those disabilities. So are you going to blame them? Is it their own fault that they are mentally ill? Which party has ever bothered to actually try and help them? Republicans? Hell no. What Republican policies have ever done anything for the homeless? If anything, Republican policies have only ever resulted in cutting funds for mental health treatment and social programs to try and keep the homeless from starving in the street.
If they should be sent anywhere it should be send them to the offices and front yards of Republican members of Congress until they finally get the idea that having mentally ill people freezing and starving in the street isn't a good thing.
No offense, but DC has a largely Democrat mayor, council etc. Who legislate. We can certainly tackle homelessness. Instead we told the federal park police to NOT dismantle these camps, and so it continues that that "is the solution"
That is not a solution. But Park Police being shitty toward the homeless is not a solution either.
My proposal would be something like this:
1. Mental health evaluations
2. Evaluate where they are from. If they are not from DC, then someone else should be taking care of them and take whatever legal action necessary, whether getting their home communities to take them in or forcing their home communities to pay.
3. If they are a danger to themselves or anyone else, put them into an institution under supervised care
4. If they are not a danger to themselves, provide them with managed housing (not tents and not paying above market rate).
5. They are also responsible for the upkeep of the housing. Unsanitary behavior gets them referred to institutional care.
6. Integrated case management and assistance with clear timelines, milestones and objectives - for example treating substance addiction or helping those who just had an issue where they became homeless because they lost their job and couldn't pay rent and getting them back on a path to self sufficiency.
7. If the homeless don't like it, they can move to somewhere else with different policies with the homeless.
Your proposals are all well and good but if the homeless could manage even a few of them, they would not be homeless.
Being mentally ill means that you are not normal and do not function within the normal social confines of the world. "Clear timelines, milestones and objectives" is consultant speak not mentally ill speak.
Supervised institutionalization is an early place to send them in that flowchart.
Anonymous
01/26/2022 14:58
Subject: Re:Homeless tents creeping into the nice/residential part of DC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I met a woman in the ER who told me she was homeless and mentally ill, and has kids, but her family who lives near the hospital wont let her near her kids and they want nothing to do with her. Wont speak to her or answer the door. The mentally ill/retarded have kids and the kids turn out the same.
Another ER visit at a different hospital. I had to wait overnight for a hospital transfer to yet another hospital where I had surgery and most of the patients near me were waiting for a bed at PIW. None were available and the doctor couldnt find one in MD or VA either, all full. They all left and said they would try again in a day or two. Clearly more mental hospitals are needed.
I am very ill and spend lots of time in the hospital. I could right a book on my experiences in the ER and my hospital roomates.
******sorry, I left out a telling detail in the first story/paragraph.
The mentally ill woman was carrying these dolls and stuffed animals. She was rocking the large doll, lining them up in seperate chairs and having conversations with them. She saw me nearly in tears, begging to be seen. She kept telling me i was going to be ok, then told me her story while consoling the dolls and stuffed animals.
They took her back to the ER before me for who knows what, but i really was dying, needed life saving medication, and hadto be admitted.
This is why DC needs more mental hospitals.
the streets are not just overwhelmed, it is also the hospitals. The seriously ill medical patients are overlooked and put at the end of the line behind the mentally ill.
I agree that it's mental illness, but society does not want mental hospitals. They closed them down and there was a big push to abolish them under Reagan. It is seen as inhumane to house them all in mental hospitals, but the alternative is these homeless encampments. Just sort of a mess all around and there aren't easy solutions.
It may not be 'easy', but re-opening hospitals seems to be a solution. Just because hospitals were closed down doesn't mean our legislators can't enact new laws and re-open them. Society clearly does want mental hospitals. Every other post here is asking for them, as well as family members across America grappling with severe mental illness in their loved ones. Let the ACLU take it to the courts, and let the families desperate to help loved ones tell the other side of the story. I'm not sure there is any 3rd way for people who don't want to help themselves AND sit around in the park in misery.
Let's be real. Society as a whole is not represented by the narrow set of views on DCUM.
Of course it's not. But mental health is a widespread topic across America (especially now) and one that everyone agrees is sorely neglected from cradle to grave. Add to that the voices of families across America despairing and deploring that once their mentally ill family member reaches 18 (often around when the mental illness really begins to manifest), they are treated as adults by the system and of their volition and against family guidance choose "independence" which is really a spiral into schizophrenia, bipolar, addiction, homelessness etc. Meanwhile, Charles Allen is able to pass laws treating criminal up to age 26 basically as children. Which is it? And why isn't it solvable through legislation - obviously treatment should be humane, objective, with lots of safeguards, wickets and opportunities to contest. But something more is needed than "good luck with that"
Anonymous
01/26/2022 14:21
Subject: Re:Homeless tents creeping into the nice/residential part of DC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Most of the homeless are from dc or md. Few others may be originally from elsewhere, but moved to dc for work and lost their jobs.
Most from DC? What percentage, and where did you get that data? I ask because I hear a lot of non-DC accents among the homeless.
And how many who came here did in fact merely lose their jobs, no other issues like mental illness or addiction? If that's truly the case then why isn't anyone back home helping them get back on their feet?
DC creates the problems, let DC deal with the problems. IMHO they should be dumped in front of the Capitol and let the law makers deal with what they begat.
That is, without a doubt, the most moronic thing anyone has said in this thread. You should be embarrassed, PP.
First of all, DC didn't create the problem. DC does not even have federal representation. DC residents create NO federal policy of any kind. DC has no say in anything anyone does other than within city limits. Instead, policy is created by people from the REST of the country, THEY are the ones coming to DC making federal policy. Learn some damn civics, PP. Don't post idiotic nonsense in a politics board if you are that ignorant.
Secondly, whose fault is it? Most of the homeless are mentally ill or have other serious issues and can't hold down a job because of those disabilities. So are you going to blame them? Is it their own fault that they are mentally ill? Which party has ever bothered to actually try and help them? Republicans? Hell no. What Republican policies have ever done anything for the homeless? If anything, Republican policies have only ever resulted in cutting funds for mental health treatment and social programs to try and keep the homeless from starving in the street.
If they should be sent anywhere it should be send them to the offices and front yards of Republican members of Congress until they finally get the idea that having mentally ill people freezing and starving in the street isn't a good thing.
No offense, but DC has a largely Democrat mayor, council etc. Who legislate. We can certainly tackle homelessness. Instead we told the federal park police to NOT dismantle these camps, and so it continues that that "is the solution"
That is not a solution. But Park Police being shitty toward the homeless is not a solution either.
My proposal would be something like this:
1. Mental health evaluations
2. Evaluate where they are from. If they are not from DC, then someone else should be taking care of them and take whatever legal action necessary, whether getting their home communities to take them in or forcing their home communities to pay.
3. If they are a danger to themselves or anyone else, put them into an institution under supervised care
4. If they are not a danger to themselves, provide them with managed housing (not tents and not paying above market rate).
5. They are also responsible for the upkeep of the housing. Unsanitary behavior gets them referred to institutional care.
6. Integrated case management and assistance with clear timelines, milestones and objectives - for example treating substance addiction or helping those who just had an issue where they became homeless because they lost their job and couldn't pay rent and getting them back on a path to self sufficiency.
7. If the homeless don't like it, they can move to somewhere else with different policies with the homeless.
I'll read your points, but just want to be clear that park police clearing parks for health, hygeine and their intended purpose is not "being shitty"
DP. DC absolutely created this problem. It was 100% the mayor (D) and city council (all D) who came up with and implemented the DC plan to allow “camping” in all parkland in DC. That’s simply a fact.
Anonymous
01/26/2022 13:37
Subject: Homeless tents creeping into the nice/residential part of DC
It is legal not to be treated for mental health issues.
Anonymous
01/26/2022 13:29
Subject: Re:Homeless tents creeping into the nice/residential part of DC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I met a woman in the ER who told me she was homeless and mentally ill, and has kids, but her family who lives near the hospital wont let her near her kids and they want nothing to do with her. Wont speak to her or answer the door. The mentally ill/retarded have kids and the kids turn out the same.
Another ER visit at a different hospital. I had to wait overnight for a hospital transfer to yet another hospital where I had surgery and most of the patients near me were waiting for a bed at PIW. None were available and the doctor couldnt find one in MD or VA either, all full. They all left and said they would try again in a day or two. Clearly more mental hospitals are needed.
I am very ill and spend lots of time in the hospital. I could right a book on my experiences in the ER and my hospital roomates.
******sorry, I left out a telling detail in the first story/paragraph.
The mentally ill woman was carrying these dolls and stuffed animals. She was rocking the large doll, lining them up in seperate chairs and having conversations with them. She saw me nearly in tears, begging to be seen. She kept telling me i was going to be ok, then told me her story while consoling the dolls and stuffed animals.
They took her back to the ER before me for who knows what, but i really was dying, needed life saving medication, and hadto be admitted.
This is why DC needs more mental hospitals.
the streets are not just overwhelmed, it is also the hospitals. The seriously ill medical patients are overlooked and put at the end of the line behind the mentally ill.
I agree that it's mental illness, but society does not want mental hospitals. They closed them down and there was a big push to abolish them under Reagan. It is seen as inhumane to house them all in mental hospitals, but the alternative is these homeless encampments. Just sort of a mess all around and there aren't easy solutions.
It may not be 'easy', but re-opening hospitals seems to be a solution. Just because hospitals were closed down doesn't mean our legislators can't enact new laws and re-open them. Society clearly does want mental hospitals. Every other post here is asking for them, as well as family members across America grappling with severe mental illness in their loved ones. Let the ACLU take it to the courts, and let the families desperate to help loved ones tell the other side of the story. I'm not sure there is any 3rd way for people who don't want to help themselves AND sit around in the park in misery.
Let's be real. Society as a whole is not represented by the narrow set of views on DCUM.
Anonymous
01/25/2022 19:12
Subject: Re:Homeless tents creeping into the nice/residential part of DC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I met a woman in the ER who told me she was homeless and mentally ill, and has kids, but her family who lives near the hospital wont let her near her kids and they want nothing to do with her. Wont speak to her or answer the door. The mentally ill/retarded have kids and the kids turn out the same.
Another ER visit at a different hospital. I had to wait overnight for a hospital transfer to yet another hospital where I had surgery and most of the patients near me were waiting for a bed at PIW. None were available and the doctor couldnt find one in MD or VA either, all full. They all left and said they would try again in a day or two. Clearly more mental hospitals are needed.
I am very ill and spend lots of time in the hospital. I could right a book on my experiences in the ER and my hospital roomates.
******sorry, I left out a telling detail in the first story/paragraph.
The mentally ill woman was carrying these dolls and stuffed animals. She was rocking the large doll, lining them up in seperate chairs and having conversations with them. She saw me nearly in tears, begging to be seen. She kept telling me i was going to be ok, then told me her story while consoling the dolls and stuffed animals.
They took her back to the ER before me for who knows what, but i really was dying, needed life saving medication, and hadto be admitted.
This is why DC needs more mental hospitals.
the streets are not just overwhelmed, it is also the hospitals. The seriously ill medical patients are overlooked and put at the end of the line behind the mentally ill.
I agree that it's mental illness, but society does not want mental hospitals. They closed them down and there was a big push to abolish them under Reagan. It is seen as inhumane to house them all in mental hospitals, but the alternative is these homeless encampments. Just sort of a mess all around and there aren't easy solutions.
It may not be 'easy', but re-opening hospitals seems to be a solution. Just because hospitals were closed down doesn't mean our legislators can't enact new laws and re-open them. Society clearly does want mental hospitals. Every other post here is asking for them, as well as family members across America grappling with severe mental illness in their loved ones. Let the ACLU take it to the courts, and let the families desperate to help loved ones tell the other side of the story. I'm not sure there is any 3rd way for people who don't want to help themselves AND sit around in the park in misery.
In what world will you be able to convince legislators to open up mental hospitals in this area? Anyone trying would have the homeless advocacy brigade calling for their heads on Twitter. The only option available is bulldozing encampments and jailing the violent homeless.
There is a hue and cry for far more mental health treatment in America (both voluntary and involuntary). Also, to decriminalize/des-escalate/de-police mnetal health and instead treat. it is coming from the people who vote for legislators. In the same world where they once mistakenly convinced them to close, rather than reform, hospitals. Ah, unintended consequences.
Anonymous
01/25/2022 18:13
Subject: Re:Homeless tents creeping into the nice/residential part of DC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I met a woman in the ER who told me she was homeless and mentally ill, and has kids, but her family who lives near the hospital wont let her near her kids and they want nothing to do with her. Wont speak to her or answer the door. The mentally ill/retarded have kids and the kids turn out the same.
Another ER visit at a different hospital. I had to wait overnight for a hospital transfer to yet another hospital where I had surgery and most of the patients near me were waiting for a bed at PIW. None were available and the doctor couldnt find one in MD or VA either, all full. They all left and said they would try again in a day or two. Clearly more mental hospitals are needed.
I am very ill and spend lots of time in the hospital. I could right a book on my experiences in the ER and my hospital roomates.
******sorry, I left out a telling detail in the first story/paragraph.
The mentally ill woman was carrying these dolls and stuffed animals. She was rocking the large doll, lining them up in seperate chairs and having conversations with them. She saw me nearly in tears, begging to be seen. She kept telling me i was going to be ok, then told me her story while consoling the dolls and stuffed animals.
They took her back to the ER before me for who knows what, but i really was dying, needed life saving medication, and hadto be admitted.
This is why DC needs more mental hospitals.
the streets are not just overwhelmed, it is also the hospitals. The seriously ill medical patients are overlooked and put at the end of the line behind the mentally ill.
I agree that it's mental illness, but society does not want mental hospitals. They closed them down and there was a big push to abolish them under Reagan. It is seen as inhumane to house them all in mental hospitals, but the alternative is these homeless encampments. Just sort of a mess all around and there aren't easy solutions.
It may not be 'easy', but re-opening hospitals seems to be a solution. Just because hospitals were closed down doesn't mean our legislators can't enact new laws and re-open them. Society clearly does want mental hospitals. Every other post here is asking for them, as well as family members across America grappling with severe mental illness in their loved ones. Let the ACLU take it to the courts, and let the families desperate to help loved ones tell the other side of the story. I'm not sure there is any 3rd way for people who don't want to help themselves AND sit around in the park in misery.
In what world will you be able to convince legislators to open up mental hospitals in this area? Anyone trying would have the homeless advocacy brigade calling for their heads on Twitter. The only option available is bulldozing encampments and jailing the violent homeless.
Anonymous
01/25/2022 17:44
Subject: Re:Homeless tents creeping into the nice/residential part of DC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I met a woman in the ER who told me she was homeless and mentally ill, and has kids, but her family who lives near the hospital wont let her near her kids and they want nothing to do with her. Wont speak to her or answer the door. The mentally ill/retarded have kids and the kids turn out the same.
Another ER visit at a different hospital. I had to wait overnight for a hospital transfer to yet another hospital where I had surgery and most of the patients near me were waiting for a bed at PIW. None were available and the doctor couldnt find one in MD or VA either, all full. They all left and said they would try again in a day or two. Clearly more mental hospitals are needed.
I am very ill and spend lots of time in the hospital. I could right a book on my experiences in the ER and my hospital roomates.
******sorry, I left out a telling detail in the first story/paragraph.
The mentally ill woman was carrying these dolls and stuffed animals. She was rocking the large doll, lining them up in seperate chairs and having conversations with them. She saw me nearly in tears, begging to be seen. She kept telling me i was going to be ok, then told me her story while consoling the dolls and stuffed animals.
They took her back to the ER before me for who knows what, but i really was dying, needed life saving medication, and hadto be admitted.
This is why DC needs more mental hospitals.
the streets are not just overwhelmed, it is also the hospitals. The seriously ill medical patients are overlooked and put at the end of the line behind the mentally ill.
I agree that it's mental illness, but society does not want mental hospitals. They closed them down and there was a big push to abolish them under Reagan. It is seen as inhumane to house them all in mental hospitals, but the alternative is these homeless encampments. Just sort of a mess all around and there aren't easy solutions.
It may not be 'easy', but re-opening hospitals seems to be a solution. Just because hospitals were closed down doesn't mean our legislators can't enact new laws and re-open them. Society clearly does want mental hospitals. Every other post here is asking for them, as well as family members across America grappling with severe mental illness in their loved ones. Let the ACLU take it to the courts, and let the families desperate to help loved ones tell the other side of the story. I'm not sure there is any 3rd way for people who don't want to help themselves AND sit around in the park in misery.
Anonymous
01/25/2022 14:53
Subject: Re:Homeless tents creeping into the nice/residential part of DC
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Most of the homeless are from dc or md. Few others may be originally from elsewhere, but moved to dc for work and lost their jobs.
Most from DC? What percentage, and where did you get that data? I ask because I hear a lot of non-DC accents among the homeless.
And how many who came here did in fact merely lose their jobs, no other issues like mental illness or addiction? If that's truly the case then why isn't anyone back home helping them get back on their feet?
DC creates the problems, let DC deal with the problems. IMHO they should be dumped in front of the Capitol and let the law makers deal with what they begat.
That is, without a doubt, the most moronic thing anyone has said in this thread. You should be embarrassed, PP.
First of all, DC didn't create the problem. DC does not even have federal representation. DC residents create NO federal policy of any kind. DC has no say in anything anyone does other than within city limits. Instead, policy is created by people from the REST of the country, THEY are the ones coming to DC making federal policy. Learn some damn civics, PP. Don't post idiotic nonsense in a politics board if you are that ignorant.
Secondly, whose fault is it? Most of the homeless are mentally ill or have other serious issues and can't hold down a job because of those disabilities. So are you going to blame them? Is it their own fault that they are mentally ill? Which party has ever bothered to actually try and help them? Republicans? Hell no. What Republican policies have ever done anything for the homeless? If anything, Republican policies have only ever resulted in cutting funds for mental health treatment and social programs to try and keep the homeless from starving in the street.
If they should be sent anywhere it should be send them to the offices and front yards of Republican members of Congress until they finally get the idea that having mentally ill people freezing and starving in the street isn't a good thing.
No offense, but DC has a largely Democrat mayor, council etc. Who legislate. We can certainly tackle homelessness. Instead we told the federal park police to NOT dismantle these camps, and so it continues that that "is the solution"
That is not a solution. But Park Police being shitty toward the homeless is not a solution either.
My proposal would be something like this:
1. Mental health evaluations
2. Evaluate where they are from. If they are not from DC, then someone else should be taking care of them and take whatever legal action necessary, whether getting their home communities to take them in or forcing their home communities to pay.
3. If they are a danger to themselves or anyone else, put them into an institution under supervised care
4. If they are not a danger to themselves, provide them with managed housing (not tents and not paying above market rate).
5. They are also responsible for the upkeep of the housing. Unsanitary behavior gets them referred to institutional care.
6. Integrated case management and assistance with clear timelines, milestones and objectives - for example treating substance addiction or helping those who just had an issue where they became homeless because they lost their job and couldn't pay rent and getting them back on a path to self sufficiency.
7. If the homeless don't like it, they can move to somewhere else with different policies with the homeless.
Your proposals are all well and good but if the homeless could manage even a few of them, they would not be homeless.
Being mentally ill means that you are not normal and do not function within the normal social confines of the world. "Clear timelines, milestones and objectives" is consultant speak not mentally ill speak.