On April 9, Otto Spoerl introduced Darcell Slovek-Walker of Transitional Resources.  Her agency works with the mentally ill.  The web site offers this succinct description. 
"Transitional Resources offers a continuum of services that are integrated and comprehensive. Each are pioneering concepts that promote recovery and a Better Life for those with mental illness."

That web site is most useful in understanding the agency.  The page devoted to programs and services can be found at:  http://www.transitionalresources.org/programs.php

She spent some time determining our understanding of mental illness, and then went on with her comments:  "Mental illness is not a character defect nor a failure of will".  "The mentally ill are more likely to be victims of crime than to be perpetrators."   "Intervention of the kind they provide costs only 1/3 as much as incarceration in prison or the State Hospital."

She gave some case examples.  The agency has been successful with some clients who have been on the street for many years.  They provide support services at any time.  They provide housing, both crisis level and longer-term, for the mentally ill. 

At the end of her talk, she showed a video, providing graphic illustrations of their work, and leaving us with the thought that many mentally ill individuals can be brought into useful positions in society.