I agree with both writer and comment. Time though that politics gets out of its failed mental health care and it goes back to medical control. We don’t need politicians or empathetic citizens deciding treatments or options. When government sectors got involved the doors of treatment facilities swung wide open to dump its residents instead of fixing program top down/bottom up problems. (We in healthcare recognize Vets are adequately provided for with the best national care program ever written for a nation’s veterans. FORCE VA to run and be administered properly, don’t recreate or compete with a system that is overall very good, just make it the best. The President needs to hold his people accountable not pass the buck.)

The SSDI figure does not take into account that the state and other agencies underwrite the cost of apartments based on the income of the applicant so whether you earn $10 or $1000 a month, you pay based on your ability not on the cost of the apartment. And the cost of Phoenix apartments has fallen drastically since this statistic was compiled, there are more apartments than applicants.

Short? Trying to figure out your singular point. It’s convoluted and not based on facts.

Sedona has more offers for free meals than takers. JCSVV, St Andrews, Food pantries, etc meet the local need and most if not all discard untaken or unused free food offered. Many food pantries offer fresh fruits and vegetables. There are not enough needy to justify doing more than what is now in Sedona and that is a good thing for the public/private partnership model.

The fact that your paranoid schizophrenic was allowed to stay in the Sedona jail was a better accommodation than most. It was clean with good facilities, it offered protection and emergency services if the need arose, it was a very humane and justified response by the community. The Sedona jail is not a county or state detention center; it’s a small facility designed for the city.

You signing the membership? Did you have the permission of the facility? If that paranoid schizophrenic had harmed a gym member your uninformed emotional decision may have caused great distress. If he is a veteran, call the VA for it has many services in place for its vets, including transportation and medicine all free of charge. Look up and write the toll free number down and use it in the future. Your vet deserved professional intervention, not your uneducated lay interference. Even considering the recent bad press, the VA offers outstanding veteran services and is fixing the mess that needs fixing. How about you volunteering hours at a VA center to support homeless and mentally ill vets like your man? That’s the public service needed by concerned citizens. That’s the right context for your concern.

Editorial staff, please excuse the length and edit as necessary. I appreciate the opportunity to express an opinion. EW