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This fall will be the third anniversary of my leaving the Homeless Veterans Program in Milwaukee. I began my fledgling career as the New York City Voices Veterans Affairs columnist, but I had no income nor any idea what I wanted to do. Six months later, I was hired as a Peer Support Specialist at a time when the profession was beginning to take off.
By the time this article is published, I will be working in a new Crisis Resource Center for adults with mental illness. This center resulted from a unique partnership between community mental health organizations, Milwaukee County, the Milwaukee Police Department and others and will help divert people who are in crisis from the criminal justice system to the mental health system. One of my friends who had a long history of wellness was at a work conference. Suddenly she began crying and found it difficult to communicate with her co-workers. Shortly afterward, her personal emergency crisis team was activated. The police brought her to a local hospital. When I saw her, she was unable to communicate with members of the team. Instead, her mind was focused on paranoia related to government leaders.
While we wondered what to do, over a number of hours she spontaneously recovered and was able to return home. If something similar happened now, she would have been evaluated at the Crisis Center and the police would have been able to leave after dropping her off.
The reasons for limiting police involvement are many. If the person presents no threat of harm to the staff or herself, the police would simply be observing. The mental health staff would be in a better position to understand what they are observing. Meanwhile, the police would be free to return to their expertise which is crime fighting.
Moreover, for a person who is experiencing paranoia, the police as authority figures can be very frightening which causes resistance. Such confrontations may result in injury or tragedy. Thus, every successful hand off from the police to the Crisis staff will help to promote this concept as a national model.
For me, being involved in a Crisis Resource Center would present an opportunity to help save the lives of my friends and loved ones. It's a new phase of my own wellness. I struggle weekly to assist persons who are troubled by paranoia, physical ailments, AODA issues and the high cost of maintaining themselves in apartments. Last week, I met with a Vietnam vet who is on 100% disability and barely living on $800 per month.
I have kept in touch with some of the men who I met at the Vets Center. One man returned to school and obtained his GED, another guy graduated from the community college and has a good job, and a third man who had a lot of anger management issues has settled down and been working in the Indian casino.
It is a long walk home, to find the person you had been before drugs, the war, sorrow and bad ideas took control. Sometimes, the walk takes many years and sadly, there will be casualties. What I can do is be the best Kenyatta I can and hope someone learns something from this story.