We Hardly Knew Them

Have the mentally ill homeless become collateral damage? Yes, according to author and expert on homelessness Pat Morgan. We Hardly Knew Them reveals the horrendous plight of homeless, mentally ill people, the cause and the reality of the criminalization of mental illness and homelessness, and the decades-old, discriminatory legislation that resulted in thousands and thousands of untreated, severely mentally ill people who become collateral damage.

You will meet Gloria, who was shot by her husband and watched him murder their daughter. She carried the secret for 25 years until Pat asked, What happened why are you out here? No one had thought to ask.

You will meet Nubs, who lived in squalor on the streets for 20 years and was jailed 147 times, usually for lying down in the middle of the street during rush hour. Finally, he got the long-term inpatient mental health treatment he desperately needed.

You will meet Frederick, who believed he was being infused by the fluids of Lionel Ritchie. Never considered a danger to himself, he was kicked to death during the night sleeping behind the Dollar Store.

You will meet William, who was never placed in a mental health treatment program. Prison was a revolving door most of his life coupled with an alphabet soup of mental illness diagnoses. We Hardly Knew Them will reveal the usually futile efforts to help homeless, mentally ill people access the services and inpatient treatment they need to break the cycle of streets, shelters and jails. And, you will discover the right to treatment and the silver bullet that could begin to reverse, over time, the current system and change it.