Public Comment

What do you see as the biggest mental health needs of individuals experiencing homelessness?

The most important, unaddressed city need is the need to educate the community, the city staff, and the police that mental illness is best addressed with patience and understanding, with housing and hot food, and will a sense of solidarity and community. The "homeless" population experiencing mental health issues is no different than any other group experiencing mental health issues. The homeless communities which organize together for their own safety are among the best at de-escalating difficult situations and resolving crisis, and should simply be supported. 

What would make the biggest difference in positively improving the mental health of individuals experiencing homelessness?  

Educating the community, the city staff, city leadership, and the police in addition to utilizing the governor's and local resources to simply house people, feed people, and treat them with respect. 

Which barriers do you consider to be the most substantial when it comes to preventing access to mental health services for individuals experiencing homelessness? 

The most substantial barriers preventing access to mental health services for individuals experiencing homelessness is ignorance, which routinely funnels vulnerable people into inhumane systems more concerned with quantification than care. 

What if any are unique entry points or opportunities you are aware of that can be leveraged to deliver or expand mental health services to Berkeley community members who are experiencing homelessness? 

The most efficacious unique entry points or opportunities which can be leveraged to deliver or expand mental health services to Berkeley community members who are experiencing homelessness are the smile you give someone as you pass by on the street, the patience you show them with the time you spend listening, the restraint you show when you exhibit understanding rather than judgement. Community members and city staff at all levels need training, as the loaded assumptions in this survey demonstrate, to re-frame their thinking about people experiencing homelessness and mental health issues. Safe, permanent housing should be the first step, a step the city has embraced only in theory. 

What have you seen work in terms of connecting individuals experiencing homelessness to mental healthcare services? 

What I have seen work best in terms of connecting individuals experiencing homelessness to mental healthcare services is recognizing that a moment of crisis, however public, does not necessarily require "services" at all; not police, not institutional commitment, not over-reaction to a circumstance which most of the time is temporal and will pass if given time to pass naturally. Our community needs to house our people - all our people, rather than leave people to try managing to live on the street. 

What unique resources, assets, or partnerships can Berkeley tap into for this mental health innovation funding opportunity? 

The most appropriate resources, assets, and partnerships can be found in the groups of local Berkeley and East Bay nonprofit communities, religious groups, outreach groups that share food and clothing, models that organize jobs and housing for those in need, and educational groups and schools wishing to assist in taking practical action to unite people who wish to help with people in need of assistance. Most of these groups would require very little assistance to amplify their existing educated as well as innovative approaches to forming caring, trusting partnerships with people who are vulnerable and suffering. In a word, kindness.