The Most Unwanted Guests

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 20 to 25% of the homeless population in the United States suffers from some form of severe mental illness. In comparison, only 6% of Americans are severely mentally ill (National Institute of Mental Health, 2009). In a 2008 survey performed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 25 cities were asked for the three largest causes of homelessness in their communities. Mental illness was the third largest cause of homelessness for single adults (mentioned by 48% of cities). For homeless families, mental illness was mentioned by 12% of cities as one of the top 3 causes of homelessness.

Here at St. Francis Inn, there are guests who are mentally ill. Some of these come daily to our meals, get toiletries, clothing vouchers and are shown respect and kindness. Some function well enough with medication that they can pay bills, have housing and lead fairly normal lives. Others are so ill that they are disruptive in their behaviors, end up in jails (where there are high populations of the mentally ill), or are easy victims for more lawless individuals.

Our first encounter with such a guest was "Jaime." "Jaime" stands on the street corner a good part of the day and reads loudly from the Bible. As he reads, he also reads out the name of the punctuation in the sentence, such as "Let there be light period." Other guests were disturbed by his reading during the meals, so he has been asked to come by at meal time and get a dinner "to go." He often attends daily Mass, and will comment on the homily. He is a veteran, has been institutionalized and often makes comments that seem much saner than many of the people who are "in charge" in this country.
Another guest is "Deacon." One of the first days that I was working at the Inn, the doorbell rang and a very nicely dressed man asked timidly if we had a pen and paper he could have. I knew there were school supplies being collected upstairs, but I felt I needed to ask the coordinator if I were allowed to take something. Sister Mary said that "Deacon" was ill, and thought he was writing a book. He sits on the corner and writes all day long in his notebook. When one looks at what he has written, it is gibberish. Once he fills up a notebook, he starts with a new one. "Deacon" is under a doctor's care, and we keep a pill counter with his weekly pills in our kitchen. When he comes for his meal, we also give him his daily allotment of pills.
"Bettie" is another guest who is tormented by inner demons. She is a beautiful, tall, willowy woman, who could pass for a runway model. However, she is continually walking about, talking out loud to the voices she hears in her head. She sometimes asks to use the phone, will dial a number, quickly leave a message, then hang up. She has family somewhere, but doesn't seem to want to stay with them. She appears very vulnerable and when she disappears for a few days, I worry that some harm has befallen her.
Because these people are not a threat to themselves or others, they are not institutionalized unless they wish to be. They could benefit from counseling and medication, but lack of transportation, funding and mental health workers or concerned family members/friends keep them from getting the services they need. We can only be a stopgap, taking care of their most basic physical needs like food and clothing. These people are the truly marginalized in our society, through no fault of their own, and deserve the same help we would extend to a person ill from cancer or diabetes.