WESTERN BUREAU:

Mentally ill and homeless persons are often shunned and misunderstood, but nurse administrator at the Committee for the Upliftment of the Mentally Ill (CUMI), Joy Crooks, believes they can be fully rehabilitated.

Crooks, one of several speakers at the 15th annual community health care conference at the Burchell Baptist Church in Montego Bay, St James, highlighted some of CUMI's success stories. She also stressed the importance of family support in the recovery process for many street people.

"We are not just helping the individual to restructure their life but we're also helping the family to be part of the rebuilding and restructuring," she said.

"We also provide support for the caregivers, because caregivers too need a lot of support to understand the illness, how to manage the individual and to understand how to cope with strange behaviour and how to help these person understand why they may have to take medication."

She shared the story of two street people who were able to resume life as productive citizens through CUMI's rehabilitation programme. One of the success stories is Margaret Fletcher.

Fletcher, who was well known for her refusal to relocate from the historic fountain in Sam Sharpe Square, now resides in a nursing home after receiving assistance from CUMI. She was featured in The Sunday Gleaner's Entertainment section after she read a poem at the Calabash Literary Festival. She is also known for her craft and sewing skills.

Defacing the city

"This is a lady who (persons) didn't think worthy because she was a street woman who was defacing the city, who, the only way to get rid of her was to scrape her up with 31 other people and dump them at the mud lake," she said, recalling the infamous 1999 street people scandal.

She also spoke of a hotel chef who found himself on the streets for seven years, losing contact with his wife and son. However, CUMI's intervention has led to his recruitment as a cook and led him to be reunited with his son.

Other speakers included Ken Kraybill from the Center of Social Innovation, and the Reverend Craig Rennebohm, founder of the Mental Health Chaplaincy.

tashieka.mair@gleanerjm.com