Without any doubt, many if not most of the homeless suffer the dual diagnosis of drug abuse and
mental illness. I have been among them, sleeping in cardboard boxes, allies, doorways, East Bay Terminal, BART trains and stations. Yes, I was drug addicted and mentally ill. I took myself to the mental hospital four times but they threw me out, said there was nothing wrong with me except drugs. They said my presence was the waste of a bed the tax payers money of Alameda County. They threw out of the nut house! (See my docudrama One Day in the Life).
But let's get to the final solution. The correct first thing a drug addict needs is a place to rest. The first thing the mentally ill person needs is a place to rest. Rather than force them into a shelter, or mental health facility, or a transitional housing situation, take them to the end game: give them a life estate to a
tiny house, dog house, SRO room with the life estate, with said property under a land trust so their life estate is no subject to gentrification and eminent domain.
Their life estate cannot be sold rented, subleased or transferred but upon their demise said property shall revert to the landtrust.
Said owner of the life estate shall not be forced to seek treatment for their addiction and/or mental illness until ready. The Harm Reduction Model shall by employed, but not said persons shall not be subjected to any search of their body and property to enter their life estate abode. When they are ready for case management and drug recovery, such services shall be available.
To conclude, I repeat, the life estate is the final solution rather than the myriad of solutions costing billions of dollars.
--MARVIN X
Community Planner
Co-founder, National Black Arts Movement, Oakland's Black Arts Movement Business District
11/12/19