I’m used to fearing, on a daily basis, that my brother Mark will die on the streets. I’ve almost accepted that that is how his story will end. My sister CJ has more hope that we can help change what would be the end of his story, but I have more doubt than ever, now, with the pandemic.
The whole world has shifted for all of humanity. Many people are doing amazing things to help each other in this crisis. We’re all told to protect the ones we love and to stay home. Yet people are still okay with no solutions to help the homeless and the SMI. We’ll watch from our windows as they become infected and succumb to COVID-19. How can we not watch? They’re the only ones left out on the streets while the rest of us hunker down and disinfect our lives.
Now, everyone's focus has turned to worry about their own mortality. I feel that the momentum of SMI advocates was moving along and now it’s come to a screeching halt. The president, the politicians, and the general population are okay with not helping the most vulnerable among us. This makes it glaringly apparent that our society’s moral compass is broken. I find myself disappointed in humanity.
Every person on earth is scrambling to keep their loved ones safe and to get them medical help if needed. Every family, with an SMI loved one, has been doing this for decades while our laws have worked against us. I’m familiar with the desperation every family is feeling now. Too familiar.
I don't mean to be negative but look at Mark's situation. The only reason he’s housed, currently, is because while homeless, cars hit him two separate times and serious injuries have kept him in a hospital bed for two months. If he were able to walk, he’d already be back on the streets. As it stands, he can receive physical therapy for his leg to become mobile again. No plans for mental health services, housing placement, treatment, or conservatorship are in the works.
I was told, if Mark says he wants to leave the nursing home, they legally have to open the doors. There’s a chance he’ll refuse physical therapy and therefore remain in a wheelchair and blind on the streets during this pandemic. There’s a chance there’ll be a COVID-19 outbreak at the nursing home while he’s still there. There’s a chance he might get moved to the Mercy Hospital ship as part of the California plan to move nursing home patients, who don’t have COVID-19, to free up more beds for COVID-19 patients.
There’s virtually no chance that CJ and I will get Mark a conservatorship, treatment, or housing. His social worker has already contacted Solano County and been told, “Mark doesn’t qualify for any mental health services due to the fact his traumatic brain injury (TBI) — from a motorcycle accident — came before his SMI.”
Mark still doesn’t comprehend that he was hit by a car a second time. I’m unable to reach him by phone and, whether people understand it or not, he needs me. I’m fighting tooth and nail to get whatever scraps of information I can get about his medical issues. I finally received a call from the ortho doctor about his leg and was told, “We’ve put a new plate in his leg to replace the metal rod we removed. If Mark refuses physical therapy for his leg and decides to leave, that is his right.”
We are all in this together, but I wish the world understood that “we” should include the SMI. I'm trying to stay positive — as we all are — for the sake of my own sanity. At the same time I admit, where my brother Mark is concerned, I’m losing hope.