suzyt

A few years ago while I was checking out of the household goods store where Tiffany was a clerk, she smiled, was pleasant, professional and had beautiful hair. Unfortunately, the store closed and she was out of a job. She had a young son to raise. Our "social safety net" has been torn for a long time, since at least the 1980's, under Reagan. This young single parent tried to get help. Her family tried numerous times to get help for her and her young son.

Until we figure out how to create good paying, stable employment, fair rent and less stressful existence, people's mental health will be challenged in trying to keep a roof over their head and food on the table. I hope Tiffany will be treated as a mentally ill person who killed her son during a depressive episode, when she and her son had nowhere to go.

CYFD should have helped this family years ago, and her sister Emily Apodaca tried numerous times to alert them to a desperate situation. But CYFD funding is always on the edge, right? We can return to barbarism, or we can be a compassionate society that takes care of its fragile members.

Also, receiving help from tribal versus city agencies gets confusing. The separate agencies should try harder to communicate effectively together.