With a political focus, I wasn’t expecting to hear from these constituents. God bless them. Marcella Brown writes this response to our grassroots effort to bring serious mental illness to the attention of 2020 presidential candidates and other influencers.
As one of the 10 million SMI individuals fighting, with all we've got and all we are every single day, for the life and death services we are being denied, thank you, Dede Moon Ranahan and team, for your unbelievable commitment to advocacy for friends you have not yet met.
We are fighting for our lives, and losing the battle quickly by our opponents debilitating us in the denial of our most basic needs — food, shelter & clothing. In Sacramento, we’ve been cut off from all access to water and shelter from the sun. We’re hunted down like criminals on the run, and kept from any place that would allow us time to rest. Restaurants are ordered by the city to waste hundreds of pounds of food daily, just to keep us from access to what others have thrown away. For most of us, that dumpster food is vital for us to survive.
We realize we are a heavy burden on our more fortunate and very hard-working brothers and sisters and we are truly sorry for that. We feel terrible being an eye-sour and unclean but we are denied any alternative.
And, if I may be so bold as to speak for all of us without prior permission, we would rather just lie-down-and-die most days of this battle. We are exhausted and out-numbered, we are dehumanized and dejected, and most days we are humiliated and without hope.
But something, beyond our control and better judgment, kicks in and keeps us fighting for our lives, as we are drowning in an ocean of tears shed for those we are seeing daily lose their battle for life — our brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers, our neighbors and our confidants, our friends and chosen family who gave all they were to try and live.
Each of you being willing to do what is right, even when no one else is doing it, are our heroes and our inspiration. You are our only hope for our voices have been muffled and our hearts weakened by the day. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts ❤
In humble gratefulness, we dedicate this song to you...
"Safe Place to Land" — Sara Bareilles and John Legend
https://youtu.be/Ht2NCrlghS4
Read these statistics. Click on the link below.