Over 90 of our residents showed up in a demonstration of their opposition to Centerstone's Jackson Hall. The event was coordinated by our committee of concerned citizens, including George Nuber, Susan Clasby, Ray Woody, David Brown and A.C. Howell. Marie Voss, one of the new Jackson Hall's immediate neighbors, hosted the event. Ms. Voss, the widow of Sheriff Bill Voss, voiced her concerns for her safety, especially in light of recent revelations about the history of Jackson Hall and the necessity for police involvement with its residents. There were examples of Jackson Hall residents being unconscious, fighting, committing assault, threatening and/or attempting suicide, committing illegal activity and even one allegation of a hostage situation at Jackson Hall (although the residents claimed that the accuser hallucinated the entire ordeal). Ms. Voss ended here statements by asking, "Who will protect me?" Special thanks to all the citizens that helped to make this rally a success.
The rally was covered by the Daily Herald and News Channel 4 from Nashville.
3 comments:
I noticed that there was not any African Americans or Hispanic people in the photos at your rally. I am also willing to bet that there are not any African American or Hispanic people living in your neighborhood. If that is true and your community is attempting to discriminate against mentally ill indivduals, then you are feeding right into the hands of the media portrait that has plagued the Caucasian race since slavery. Now you want publicity to make the South look the same as 90% of the country already views us; biggots, racist, unsympathetic to people that are different. I am glad that you have made a choice to stand up for your ideals. I just wish that you would consider the overall effects of what you are doing. I would suggest taking a poll of all the citizens in your neighborhood. I would ask them to be honest and allow someone to look at all the medication that they are taking. You will find that over half will be taking some sort of anti-depression drug prescribed by their physical doctor because they were scared to go to Centerstone to recieve treatment.You may find that their are some of your closest friends taking medications for anxiety or depression. Maybe they should also find somewhere else to live? I have dealt with communities like yours for several years now. Thank God that we live in the United States of America, and our government has aligned laws against discrimination. I wouldn't want to pour rain on your parade, but I have never seen a neighborhood win. It would simply demoralize the civil rights movement, and destroy everything that great people like Dr. Martin Luther King accomplished. Remember, you may think the people that Centerstone wants to house are different, but in fact, they are your sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, and friends. Please, please reconsider this movement before it casts a shadow over your community for decades to come.
The last comment is just wrong. Equating families of young children and the elderly at being afraid of schizophrenic patients with a history of violence is absurd. You should read your history. That is not what Dr. King or the Civil Rights movement stood for. For your information, these unsympathetic neighbors are terrified of the history that Jackson Hall boasts. But don't believe me, look at the police reports for yourself. Fights, assaults, suicide attempts, people losing consciousness, "illegal activity" (according to Centerstone itself) and at least one alleged hostage situation and/or hallucinations of the same -- to name only a few of the dangers presented by this group since late 2005. Now, what parent in their right mind would not object to having such a crime infested household move next door. In the name of blind tolerance and motivated by some irrational compulsion to prove how politically correct you are, you have ceded over an honest review of the situation and instead equated these violent and druge prone persons with the struggles of African Amercans! Your position decries of bigotry of the first order. How insensitive that you would even make such a comparison! If I see some man chasing my children, yelling at them or otherwise acting in a manner that is threatening or scary to them, I will risk being called a bigot by persons like you, the type that buy everything fed by the media and do not think at all for themselves. Until you walk a mile in the shoes of those who are at risk for having our lives disrupted by this center of violence, I suggest you shut up.
As a person who has been treated for anxiety, I can say that I personally understand the struggles that many patients treated by Centerstone face. However, as a resident of Rolling Fields I do not think that a commercial treatment facility is appropriate in the midst of our quiet neighborhood. I am sure that many or most of the patients that will be treated at Jackson Hall will not be dangerous. But would you want to take the chance that a revolving door of patients will all be safe and that none of the past offenses will occur? I don't think so. I am really not sure why race has been brought into the discussion...race has absolutely nothing to do with it.
The residents of Rolling Fields are not discriminating against the mentally ill. In fact, I'm sure that the 'anonymous' bloggers are correct in stating that many of our neighbors have probably dealt with depression or had close family or friends who have. I applaud Centerstone in providing help and hope to those in need. That said, you can not convince me that it is appropriate to house multiple patients in a residential neighborhood and *hope* that something doesn't go wrong.
I also want to say that I don't want anyone to think that I view the mentally ill as bad people or generally dangerous. There are vast degrees of difference in each individual experience with depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, etc. But the potential with some disorders for delusion or loss of touch with reality is cause for concern.
By the way, anonymous, just because someone doesn't go to a treatment facility for depression doesn't mean they are scared. It is because treatment facilities aren't appropriate for everyone.
In sum, mental health patients are our friends, our family, and our loved ones. They deserve all the rights and respect as anyone else. But to put a commercial facility with patients still undergoing treatment into a residential neighborhood is simply not a good idea.
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