We’ve written a lot about our son’s schizophrenia. Of course, since we live in Florida (a state that typically ranks 49th for mental health assistance), we rarely have the chance to talk about the positive side of this nightmare.
But times are changing, and three incredible organisations are on the frontline working to tackle our mental health crisis.
First up is Dr. Christine Caulfield, CEO of LSF Health Systems.
As stated on its website, LSF is a nonprofit management organization “contracted with the Florida Department of Children and Families to ensure uninsured and underinsured people experiencing poverty have access to evidence-based behavioral health services,” and serves a 23-county area in North Florida.
This approach helps people at risk for or diagnosed with mental illness or substance use disorder find the help they need. Services include prevention, intervention, treatment and care coordination toward optimal recovery.
Sandra Jackson, Regional Director of Clinical Operations for SMA Healthcare, recently took to social media to share her thoughts on National Mental Health Month and the importance of prioritizing positive mental health habits.
SMA operates in six rural counties and has the following goals:
- Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment
- Psychiatric Drug Management
- Care Coordination
- Positive Community Treatment Counseling Services
Finally, I’d like to tell you about an incredible organization that we recently started working with: Patients Not Prisoners. Founder Lisa Taliaferro is committed to ensuring that people living with mental illness receive proper care, rather than being criminalized. Her personal experience of her own sons being caught up in the justice system while also living with mental illness further motivates her advocacy and support work.
As a result, she founded an organization to continue to advocate, educate and support this cause.
To raise awareness, a free meal and bowling event will be held in Palatka on Friday, June 28 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, call (386) 385-3923 or visit PatientsNotPrisoners.org/may-2024-events.
Richard and Kathleen Marquis, St. Augustine
Safety message comes after nonprofit theft incident
The bank account of our Haitian orphanage support organization, All Things New, Inc., was emptied by cybercriminals. In late May, the criminals stole $19,000 from our account through ACH transactions. This is a devastating amount for a small support organization that relies entirely on monthly donors to support our orphanage, which consists of approximately 25 children and nearly 25 staff members.
After we realized the theft, we immediately went to our bank and informed them. We found out that while individuals have 60 days to report this type of theft to protect their funds, businesses have only 24 hours to report the lost funds to the bank, otherwise they will not be able to recover the funds.
Because $7,000 was deposited within 24 hours of the reporting deadline, the bank was able to replenish the account with that amount, but there was still a shortfall of $12,000.
It is well known that Haiti has been under siege for years by ruthless gangs who intercept goods arriving at the ports, stealing badly needed food and supplies. Despite the gangs’ grip on the country, at least for now, some funds have been delivered to help children and workers survive.
We are now faced with the very real prospect of not being able to continue supporting our mission work until (and even if) we are able to recover these funds.
“This is a devastating blow to our work, but we hope this message will serve as a driving force to the need for all individuals and businesses to monitor their bank accounts daily. We will continue to work with the bank and hope to recover the $12,000 so we can continue to support children and workers in need in Haiti.
God protect Haiti, All Things New, and our children.
Matt Bush, Executive Director, All Things New Inc.
Cultured meat is not the solution
In her June 9 letter, she criticized Governor Ron DeSantis for banning cultured meat. The writer states that 99% of livestock in the U.S. is factory farmed, where animals are constantly pumped with antibiotics that seep into the plants and put residents at risk. Her conclusion is that current agricultural practices are unsustainable and cultured meat is the solution.
I believe that while there is a grain of truth in this letter, it is full of errors.
First, unless we conclude that all farms that produce livestock for income are factory farms, 99% of livestock in the United States are not produced on factory farms, which are generally defined as large farms where animals are treated very cruelly. However, many farms in the United States are small, family-run, and treat cows and other livestock very humanely.
Second, most farm animals are not given low concentrations of antibiotics continuously. On my farm, when farm animals get sick, antibiotics are given to the sick animals just as we would treat a human if they were sick. Larger farming facilities might lace their feed with low concentrations of antibiotics to fight a major disease outbreak, but only if the animals are sick, and only for a short period of time.
They are not given antibiotics on a continuous basis, as the reader suggests.
Third, cultured meat is nowhere near as good as regular meat: It lacks many of the nutrients found in regular meat, making it less healthy.
Finally, don’t be fooled by the scaremongering of the ignorant. Farmers across the United States are committed to producing a quality product that is safe for the public. After all, we eat what we produce.
Calvin Johnson, rancher, Jacksonville
Justice Department’s “weaponization” claims are unreasonable
Accusations that the Biden administration has used the Justice Department in a malicious and partisan manner collapse under the weight of the facts.
The State of New York successfully prosecuted tax cases against Donald Trump’s business entities and successfully indicted him for manipulating business records to conceal illegal campaign contributions. In addition, two federal grand juries have indicted Trump, first for mishandling classified documents and second for conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
However, under Biden, the Justice Department indicted Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey (and his wife) and Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas (and his wife) for accepting foreign bribes. Special Counsel David Weiss also indicted (and convicted) Democrat Hunter Biden for purchasing and possessing a handgun for several months while using drugs.
Any claims that the Biden Justice Department is weaponizing politics are refuted by this rogue group of one Republican and three Democrats.
Steve Entman, Jacksonville
Possible school closures not unexpected
After reading Mark Woods’ June 7 column, I found myself wanting to sympathize with those protesting the possible closure of Holiday Hill Elementary School.
But really, what did they expect? The school is in a deep-red voting district in Duval County that Gov. Ron DeSantis won by a 3-to-1 margin in 2022.
DeSantis has made no secret of his desire to dismantle Florida’s public school system and hand over as much as possible to private and charter schools — he’s proud of it — but when you take students away from traditional public schools, it’s no wonder some of them close.
Perhaps this should serve as a lesson to voters living in the region to more carefully consider the impact of a candidate’s policies and not just their party affiliation before voting for them.
Mike Lafferty, St. John’s
Firefighter pensions are a bad idea
Why is the City Council considering reverting firefighter pension plans to their previous structure in a proposed new contract?Taxpayers approved a half-cent sales tax to help pay down the massive debt the city faced in 2017.
Will taxpayers face the same problem in the future and be asked to increase sales taxes again to get out of a bind? How much of the debt has been paid down since 2017? Has anyone looked at the actuarial figures to estimate the impact of this decision?
This seems like a typical political move to spend taxpayer money and garner support from some with little consideration for future impacts.
Richard Pierce, Jacksonville
