> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Mentally ill shouldn’t be on the streets
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/mentally-ill-shouldnt-be-on-the-streets-editor/
- Published: 2003-08-06T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:40:35.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless

*By Marilyn Brennan Santa Monica*

Last Saturday afternoon on busy Lincoln Boulevard coming out of JoAnns Fabrics, my 6-year-old granddaughter and I were walking toward Santa Monica Boulevard, all excited about the cat we were going to sew together.

A heavyset woman passed us and walked ahead. About 10 feet in front of us, traffic and a restaurant, she squatted down, lifted her dress, fully exposing her very ample rear end and proceeded to move her bowels. I’m sure the people having lunch in the restaurant behind her were thrilled by the sight. If it’s disgusting to read about, it certainly was more disgusting to see in person. Imagine how my lovely granddaughter felt. She was shocked and appalled, as I was. My granddaughter has been taught to share and give to people and animals who need help, but this woman needed to be off the public street and in a place where she can be properly cared for.

The place for homeless people with mental problems and alcohol/drug problems is in mental institutions and treatment programs.

We made our biggest mistake back in the 1980s when the government, led by Ronald Reagan, decided that the place for mental patients was in the community. And in the community, they were lost with little help or follow up. And then of course we had Nancy Reagan spearhead the “just say no” campaign. What a good idea. No need to spend money on treatment programs. We could cut the mental health funding way back. Just say no.

I used to work for one of the largest psychiatric VA hospitals in the U.S. It had over 2,000 beds. It wasn’t perfect, but these veterans had a place to sleep, food, work programs, medication, medical care and staff who cared about them. I used to wonder what would happen to these men and women if the VA Hospital wasn’t there. Now I know. I step over them daily.

I don’t know how to solve the problem but more and more qualified inpatient treatment centers are a start. Surely in this country we can afford it. Our present government would much rather spend billions and billions on wars and then pour billions and billions more into countries who all hate us.

If we have to dig deeper, I would like to see the U.S. government pour a little more tax dollars into our schools, protecting the environment and taking care of the people who no longer can care for themselves. When our highest priority becomes our future, which is our children and the environment, I will feel that at last I am being taxed for the good of the country. Personally, I can’t wait until November 2004.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 6, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/080603.pdf?ref=smdp.com)