Humboldt House

OK, so first, I am a Medical Doctor, a Surgeon, not a Psychiatrist. However, I believe that mental illness is a much greater problem than our society recognizes. I have discussed my opinions with a Psychiatrist friend, and we agree. I have some personal experience with Humboldt house.

Humboldt House, in San Mateo, California is a wonderful, and much needed halfway house in San Mateo for people with mental illnesses. The place is clean and neat, and the people managing the place try to make it look as attractive as possible. They are also very nice and caring people, who care about the residents. They arrange, and make sure that the residents have medical insurance. They make sure the residents have and keep their doctor appointments, that they take their medications and that they have food. During the Covid pandemic, they arranged for every resident to get vaccinated. They arranged for Covid testing, and for booster shots.

Well, in general, the staff makes sure that residents with mental illness have a pleasant, and safe place to live, and they take care of them and care for them when the residents may not have anybody else to take care of them. They treat all of the residents as part of their own family, and do everything that a family member would be expected to do for them. I have personally observed that the staff also treat the residents with respect.
What is a person who has a mental illness supposed to do when his or her parents get too old to care for them or die? Those who are accepted at Humboldt House or a similar facility are the lucky ones. Sadly, there are not many places like Humboldt House

We desperately need more facilities such as Humboldt House everywhere in California and all across America.
I have a relative who has a serious mental illness. He has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, among other mental disorders. He previously had a tendency to violence and did a lot of damage to my house. He once even attacked me and tried to throw me off a third story balcony. He has been hospitalized in mental hospitals more than once. He was hospitalized in San Francisco for about 2 years several years ago. After he was discharged, arrangements were made to get him into Humboldt House. He was referred to a private Psychiatrist. His condition is now relatively well stabilized as long as he takes his medications, but he still has problems.

I am well past normal retirement age, and well past my expected life expectancy. It is such a relief to know that my relative will have a safe place to live and people who will care about him and for him when I am either gone, or no longer able to take care of him.