For all the progress that was made for a drug court and a mental health court, as well as investments in treatment and recruiting more counselors and housing, here we are with multiple issues.
We have more veterans and those with severe mental health conditions and homeless as well as counselors aging out of the practice and local police departments not making the investments in crisis intervention training and making sure one is available each shift.
The local AIM Center stopped letting the local Chattanooga Pendulums, a branch of the national DBSA, hold their weekly meetings there after over 20 years.
Bottom line the stigma for those with a mental health diagnosis still has to live with it every day and, for all the talk, it's the same if not harder for some in the community of Chattanooga.
Tony Campbell