I have been appalled by the way we treat our Mentally ill in America.  Basically, we medicate them in an institution if they are dangerous to themselves or others, and we dump them on the street if they are not.  Nowhere in all of this do I see effective treatment for their disease.

A few years ago a Mentally Handicapped person had been released from an institution.  The Hospital had put the person on a bus and sent them to a place to meet family.  The bus arrived early, the Mentally Handicapped person got off the bus, and with no one there to meet them, walked 100 yards into a field and sat down to wait for someone to come take care of them.  It took a week to find them, they were dead from exposure, they had simply sat there and died.  Is this compassionate care, is this really how we treat our own?

I hear people say all the time, "I don't give money to the homeless, they're just a bunch of lazy alcoholics and druggies".  The truth is, that most of them are that "in-between" demographic, not dangerous enough to keep, too messed up to keep a job.  Charity is giving to someone, not dictating how your money is spent.  Every alcoholic and drug addicted person still needs to eat and drink water.  If the reason they are homeless is because we don't treat them, then where does the fault lie, with the victim or the establishment.

We need a total revamp of the Mental Health System, even more so then just the regular Health System.  Until we are healing minds and giving them the ability to be self-sufficient, we are the ones that are wrong.  You waste more money at a convenience store buying junk then helping an unfortunate, so the next time you see a homeless person, don't assume you know their story, help them.  Then get on the phone to your Legislators and try to get some common sense and compassion back into the Mental Health System!