‘Staying the Course’

I have just read Stephen Moore’s piece on reforming Social Security, and I could not agree more [“Staying the Course,” Opinion, May 13, 2005]. As someone in his mid-thirties, the ability to invest at least a third of the weekly Social Security taxes into a private account would be a boon to someone my age. Why shouldn’t we be allowed to make that choice? As the president has said, for those who wish to remain with a system that gives them steadily diminishing returns, by all means stay with the current system. But the rest of us should not be imprisoned in a program that keeps us from being masters of our financial destinies. And if the current system is so good, then we should ask our senators, congressmen, and federal employees why they aren’t in it with the rest of us. They have their own program, a Thrift Savings Plan. What’s wrong guys, the current Social Security system not good enough? It must be good to have a choice.

DAVID SAN MARTIN
Union City, N.J.

Depressed About Mental Health

Re: “S.I. Depressed About Mental Health Facility,” Alicia Colon, New York, May 13, 2005. I was so excited when I learned that Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers was developing a supportive housing residence for people living well with the challenges of mental illness on Fort Place. As the director of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Staten Island, a support, information, and advocacy organization for people with mental illness and their families, I know how desperately this is needed. One in five families is affected by these no-fault brain disorders and 15,000 people with mental illness live on Staten Island. Actually, mental illnesses are more common than cancer, diabetes, or heart disease – and more treatable. Advances in medications and treatment have resulted in greater opportunities for people to live, work, and recover in their communities. A place to live is the cornerstone of their recovery. Without adequate housing, these individuals often find themselves circling between hospitals, family, and the street. Right now, they do not have a place to live.

Currently, Staten Island lacks the type of residences being proposed. The only Office of Mental Health single-site residences that exist on Staten Island are transitional residences, as well as two single-site supported housing buildings without on-site support services, for a total of 258 beds which is .00058 of the total population of Staten Island. For Community Board 1, the number of single site mental-health housing units is 166, for a percentage of .001 of the total population (162,609). So you can see that the number of available housing units on Staten Island is extremely low for transitional programs, and nonexistent for extended-stay programs

Over the years, Saint Vincents has provided excellent programs and support services. Their residents are good citizens and are valuable members of our community. I was excited to hear that there will be 24-hour, 7-day-a-week front-desk coverage, on-site building maintenance, case management services, vocational training, and recreational activities. Residents will have access to medical and psychiatric services through community-based providers. The New York State Office of Mental Health will license the residence. NAMI families are eagerly awaiting the residence at 78 Fort Place, Staten Island.

LINDA WILSON
Executive Director
NAMI Staten Island
Staten Island

The vast majority of persons with mental illness are not violent, whether the symptoms of their illness are under control or not. They have been historically locked up because of the vast amount of fear held by Americans, which the media plays upon and perpetuates.

The average American citizen is more likely to suffer a threat from a neighbor, a sexual predator, a criminal, or a fellow citizen than by a consumer who is recovering from a mental illness. To equate mental illness with an unworthy element of society is inaccurate and is akin to saying: All those with any disease such as diabetes should not live among us.

NANCY McFARLAND
Dansville, N.Y.

“[N]eighbors in the St. George community are up in arms at what they view as a real turkey …”

As a person active in my community, I recognize the term “neighbors.” It means “some” neighbors, does it not? Factually, a small minority of neighbors, does it not? In reality, most neighbors are silent.

That said, I oppose renovating the facility as a single-use residence. I oppose any attempt to create segregated environments, whether based upon color, gender, ability, or disability. I believe society is best served through integration. I do not believe segregation serves anyone well.

Far better would be to apportion the apartments among varied incomes, a technique that has had recognized success. The majority of apartments would go to people with psychiatric disabilities, the remainder sold at market prices.

HAROLD A. MAIO
Fort Myers, Fla.

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