Letter: Ottawa County should lead in mental health support for its citizens

Actions by the Ottawa County government are hostile to the progress of mental health support initiatives. The new board of commissioners has been putting up roadblocks, delaying and voting down grants that are related to mental health support.

This current board of commissioners has challenged a well-qualified health officer who was properly given a job. They are hoping to replace her with a person with no experience as a health officer. They also alleged the Health Department “sexualizes” college students in a program promoted at a college level. And now, the commissioners want to decimate the budget of the Health Department. This will, without a doubt, hamstring and/or eliminate many programs that serve disadvantaged and vulnerable populations in our community.

In March of this year, a grant for nearly $575,000 was road-blocked for budgetary concerns and the possibility of funding not being renewed. It was nothing but posturing. This grant, which was an amazing opportunity to shore up the county support system, should have been evaluated with a dual focus of utilizing the funds right away and implementing a plan to make sure the funding remained for the long term. Rather than leading on this matter, the grant was temporarily road-blocked.

In July, this same board of commissioners tabled a motion to accept a grant for promoting a men’s mental health website on social media because they had “questions” about grant conditions. The grantor amended the conditions. However, when the motion came back two weeks later they went straight to a vote without any discussion or fact finding, and summarily voted it down. As per Joe Moss’ standard operating procedure, disagreement was bulldozed.

Recently it has come to light that there has been inflammatory language used among some in the local government that is contrary to awareness of and sympathy for those who suffer with mental health issues. This further stigmatizes and marginalizes them, and it is completely inappropriate.

It is evident that decisions are being made by people who are not looking out for our county’s well-being. People are being placed in positions that are damaging the work that compassionate and qualified people have done in the past. Are these the people who we want to represent and work for Ottawa County?

Many Ottawa County residents experience mental illness. Judging by National Institute of Mental Health data for the nation, about 54,000 adults in Ottawa County are living with a mental illness — over one-sixth of the county's total adult population. These residents/voters deserve to be cared about by everyone. They are in our families, YOUR families, and in our neighborhoods. Our county government needs to be taking the lead in serving them.

Support for this letter includes participants in a local support group called Balanced Life. We know firsthand how difficult it is to get help for ourselves and our family members living with mental illness. Some have waited for months to get an appointment. Others have been released from hospitals when their insurance no longer covered them. Some ended up with no place to live because their illness kept them from keeping jobs.

Ottawa County Mental Health serves a large number of us, but does so without sufficient funds to provide robust psychiatric help and therapy for all those with the most severe illnesses. The underserved population also includes many who end up homeless or in jail because of the limited resources to meet their needs. We are these people. We love these people.

We urge Ottawa County residents to insist that their commissioners support more funding — not less. More outreach — not less. More education of the public — not less, all while standing up for the rights of all citizens. Make your voice heard with phone calls, letters, emails, and public commentary if the actions of this current board of commissioners are contrary to best practices for mental health initiatives for our community.

Eric Sooy

Julie Sooy

Carol A. Stone

Bryon Stone

Robin Klay Ph.D.

Craig Geiser

Nathan Klay

Sheila Klemm

Doug Klemm

Jeff Michaelis, MA, LPC, NCC

Patrice M. Emmerson

Peter J. Emmerson

Kimberly L. Turnes

Christina Wood

Tim Wood

Mary Bishop

Dave Zwart

Karen Zwart

Linda Lont

Fred Allen

Priscilla Atkins

Ken Vander Meeden

Bev Vander Meeden

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Letter: Ottawa County should lead in mental health support for citizens