When I helped to run a homeless shelter in Chicago, we housed about 20 people, and also had the house open in the evenings when people needed a place to hang out before the big shelters opened later. The folks who gathered in the basement were the ones who were either really crazy or afraid of people. One of those women, who would hide in the dark parts of the basement, was Phyllis.
Phyllis was really wacky. Talked to herself, yelled at people, essentially did whatever she could to keep people away. And that was what homeless women did, they acted super crazy and dangerous as a way to protect themselves from assault. One night another worker asked if Phyllis could take the opening that came available that morning to live in our house.
I said no way. She was too over the top. She had to be able to live with other people, share a bathroom, get along. I seriously doubted that was possible. But the other worker, Roger, was much more compassionate, and wore me down. Phyllis became my housemate.
And an amazing thing happened. Once Phyllis felt safe and cared for, she was not crazy at all. In fact, she became my friend. She had been abandoned by her husband, left with all their debt, couldn’t make the payments, had no family, ended up on the street. She never talked about what happened to her on the street, but you didn’t have to wonder too hard because it happens to all women who live on the street.
She took a few months to get her balance again, and eventually she took a job as an administrator of another shelter. She was kind and helpful and so loving to the people she served. All it took was to be treated like a person, treated with dignity, and Phyllis was herself again. I am not saying that cures all mental illness. But many of the people we served at that shelter had mental illness issues, and none of them were ever violent or dangerous.
As a nation, we have to offer help to people struggling with mental illness issues. They need medication, treatment, a place to stay and jobs to do. Just like we all do. But in my experience, this will not solve the shootings in schools. It is just another opportunity to do the right thing by treating people with respect and care. So I am not against addressing the issues and concerns of mental illness. But I am also for getting rid of the guns.