09/15/2025
I cannot thank everyone enough for your kind words, prayers, thoughts, support, and willingness to share about my brother! Through the kindness of a stranger, he was located last night! 😭🥰👏🏼
Update: He's been in an ER since last night. Initially, the Crisis Team said that he just needs food (he hadn't eaten or slept in 24 hours) and he'll be fine. They were going to let him go last night, even though he has a court order in another county to receive mandatory mental health help. 🙄😱 Thankfully, they were willing to listen to my sister who heavily advocated for him and let them know of his court order and needs in a different county. We're just praying that he isn't doing "too well" today so they see a need to keep him and provide him necessary help to be the amazing person he is! 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Unfortunately, the mental health system is a VERY broken system. There are so many good people fighting (one of which is my brother!), but there isn't enough in place to protect such a vulnerable population who simply cannot fully advocate for themselves! Through the past 8 weeks (really, it's been 26 years!), I've seen just how much this broken system can impact one person's life. One hospital tried repeatedly to send my brother to a homeless shelter (and this is after he almost died of kidney and liver failure due to self-inflicted malnutrition).
It has made me think: My brother has never been homeless because of our family. But what about people like my brother who don't have family to advocate for them?! Who is helping those people to get the help they need?
In order to receive help, you have to be deemed "bad enough" or commit a crime so that someone sees your need for help. The main hospital where my brother has been receiving care said that they receive mental health cases regularly and only have them for 4-5 days. Their basic protocol is to give them a 30-day dose of an anti-psychotic and then release them back to a homeless shelter. There isn't a current long-term solution to help those people! And then those people commit crimes or do things they would never do if they were provided the care they need to improve their lives. (Cont. in comments)
