I’m a resident of the 6th Ward and leader with Southside Together Organizing for Power, a community organization that talks to South Siders about mental health crises and fights for the city to reopen its free mental health clinics.
In a June 12 op-ed (“My brother Leon would have lived longer if he had received the mental health care he needed”), Mayor Brandon Johnson explains his dedication to public mental health care and his plan to rebuild and expand services, starting with the reopening of the shuttered clinic in Roseland.
I know firsthand how important accessible, quality public mental health care is because it helped me. It’s life-changing and lifesaving.
In 1996, my son, my one and only child, was killed.
Following his death, I was in a deep depression. In 1998, I tried to die by suicide. In 2005, I was in a coma for months.
It took years for me to begin to heal, but after finding the right therapist and services at the Auburn-Gresham clinic, I got the support that I needed. My therapist gave me my self-esteem and confidence back, and through hard work and care, I was able to get my life back. He taught me about my illness and my medicine, and then I started to make goals and plans. When you’re unstable, you aren’t able to do those things. But when you have someone encouraging, you can.
We also had psycho-social rehabilitation at the clinic. We learned how to live in society, how to go to a restaurant, how to socialize with people, how to pay our bills and how to write our checks. That’s what we need in our system that we don’t have anymore.
The last three administrations — under Richard M. Daley, Rahm Emanuel and Lori Lightfoot — eliminated vital services that communities needed by not investing in public mental health clinics. This helped create a mental health crisis that the pandemic made even worse. Lightfoot even ran on reopening the public mental health clinics and then reneged on her promise once she got in office.
This is why I support Johnson. He’s consistent and community-oriented, realizes that he can’t get things done alone and makes sure to include the community’s voice. He promised that mental health is his first priority and is continuing to keep that promise.
Hope is on the horizon, and I think that we’re taking the right steps toward solving Chicago’s mental health crises.
— Diane Adams, Chicago
Dealing with deep trauma
Regarding the editorial “Violent crime in Chicago remains a crisis, plain and simple. There is no higher priority for you, Mr. Mayor.” (June 20): Thanks for this. We are all tired of hearing meaningless statistics on crime. People are dying, and lives are being destroyed. Who cares about a 2% decrease?
I am president of a foundation that invests in violence prevention. We are one of the early members of Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities, or PSPC. This group does great work but is missing the target of materially changing results in the near term.
The organization that can produce meaningful fast results is Pride Roc in Englewood. We are big supporters and see the results. With more funding, the organization could quickly scale up and make an immediate impact. Its methodology of dealing with deep trauma works.
— Joel Friedman, president, Alvin H. Baum Family Fund, Chicago
Standing up to Trump
Regarding the op-ed “Will Trump ever leave the RNC?” (June 20): The real question that op-ed writer Frank Donatelli should be asking is: “Will the Republican National Committee ever leave Trump?” Shortly after Jan. 6, 2021, many Republican senators and representatives condemned Donald Trump for the riots and bloodshed that day only to do a complete about-face. They are now bending over backward to get into and stay in his good graces. I find their support of Trump incomprehensible.
What will it take for these members of Congress to grow ethical and moral spines in order to stand up to Trump? Republican members of Congress bear considerable responsibility for what is occurring in their party. If they didn’t support Trump, there would be no need to ask: Will Trump ever leave the RNC?
— Marjorie E. Bloss, Chicago
GOP isn’t recognizable
Thank you to Frank Donatelli for his excellent take on Donald Trump. I keep wondering when the Republicans are going to turn on the Trumpicans and get back to being the party of Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. and George W. Bush.
I can’t find my Republican Party anymore.
— Angela M. Orlando, Bloomingdale, Illinois
Why I will vote for Trump
As a long-recovering liberal who once upon a time voted for Michael Dukakis, let me explain my support for Donald Trump.
You need surgery, and there are two doctors. The first is as nice as can be. Great bedside manner. The nurses love him, and he reminds you of your grandfather. He won father of the year. But when it comes to his surgical skills, he rates only about 35 out of 100. Nobody’s taking away his license, but he’s subpar with the scalpel in his hand, which is what you’re hiring him to do.
The second surgeon is a miserable human being. He cheats on his wife. His kids don’t talk to him. He’s late on his taxes. The hospital staffers hate him. And he’s gruff and arrogant with you. But he happens to be an A-plus surgeon in the operating room. His skills rate a 95.
So who are you picking?
Answer that, and now you understand why I support Donald Trump. The world was safe and quiet on his watch. He may not be my cup of tea for dining with, and I wouldn’t want him as my brother-in-law, but for running and restoring our country and not dropping the scalpel, he’s the better choice. Much better.
— Malcom Montgomery, Munster, Indiana
The choice is obvious
As an independent, I think it’s unfortunate that the 2024 presidential race comes down to two disappointing options. But the differences between the two could not be any clearer. And for me, there’s only one obvious choice.
Do you want a president who, despite whether you agree with him on his policies or not, puts America first, strives to defend democracy and is respected by our allies? Or do you want a mentally unstable, adulterous, habitually lying criminal who repeatedly degrades America, steals classified documents, incites an insurrection to attempt to overthrow the government, calls our valiant troops “suckers” and “losers,” and thinks of only himself and how he can benefit?
I’ll take Joe Biden’s democracy over Donald Trump’s destruction every time.
— Bryan Bradley, Buffalo Grove
Wilson un-politician-like
As much as I enjoy and often agree with Willie Wilson’s op-eds, it has recently become very obvious why he is so unsuccessful at being a politician and running for office in Chicago and Illinois. He just recently gave away some of his own money, not the taxpayers’, to Chicagoans. That is without precedent by our other “public servants.”
— Joe Juszak, Sugar Grove
Humor reveals humanness
In Clarence Page’s column, “Pope Francis believes the world needs to laugh more. He’s right.,” in the June 19 Tribune, I was very taken by Pope Francis’ remarks that comedians’ humor helps us “think critically by making (us) laugh and smile.” This made me smile.
I have worked for the Catholic Church for eight years and have discovered that a sense of humor is more of an asset than I first realized. For all of the hierarchy and rank and file within the church, there is a genuine unity by the means of humor. The human element in all of us, whether we are a priest, a layperson or a pope, comes out through humor; there is the way of seeing that all in the church are prone to gaffes, missteps and and very human characteristics.
In laughing, we are able to see ourselves and each other more clearly and with affection and understanding.
There is certainly a higher plan found in humor. A very classic joke ends with the punchline that God does have a sense of humor — he made all of us.
— Mandy May, Evanston
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