How low can we go?

How low can we go?
EDITOR:
As I read the article about the home for the mentally ill closing, anger, questions and frustration built up in my mind and especially my heart. I am utterly disgusted to read how an institution that treats the mentally retarded and developmentally disabled patients is shutting down, and which institution to be shut down next is in question. There should not even be a question. What has America come to? Gov. Bob Taft is looking to save $23 million a year. I wonder how it must feel to place a price on the life and future outcome of a disabled person. Within the article, a father states that, "The state of Ohio takes better care of a murderer than a handicapped child." The sad reality of this statement is that it holds a repulsive amount of truth to it.
The majority of the mentally disabled cannot adequately take care of themselves and many families rely on these institutions to provide care, compassion and give a sense of security to these people of need. Instead, and shamefully so, people are getting shut out and denied the chance of being helped and are, in turn, given a minuscule possibility of survival without the institutions.
These institutions provide more than just shelter for the mentally ill; they give a second breath of life and hope toward God's special children. I have a relative who is mentally retarded and it sickens me to even think about him not having the proper care to survive. He cannot fully understand how to take care of himself and how to react in time of an emergency. If these institutions continue to shut down, what will be next?
Perhaps the incarcerated can continue to enjoy their prepared meals, which they are capable of making, and enjoy their every day pampered lives that the mentally disabled cannot. What is to become of the disabled who have no family to turn to once everything shuts down? With no one to help supervise them, I am sure that crimes and disturbances will rise and then the patients will be once more institutionalized, but this time they will be guaranteed a place to reside in.
Once more, I ask, what has America come to? Does it feel good and reassuring to know that felons are being taken care of, while those who need helped out the most are being rejected? Our morals, values and ethics have been dwindling over the years, but this is truly disgraceful. Congratulations, Ohio, we have officially hit a new low in this world of politics and greed.
ALEXIS PERRY
Struthers
Protect our ports
EDITOR:
Well, there he goes again. It seems the president wraps himself in some controversy every week. Now he wants to outsource our security. He wants a foreign country to provide the security at six major ports on the East Coast. And an Arab nation at that. What part of 9/11 doesn't he understand?
Put a fox in charge of the hen house? I think not. Let them be guards at the White House.
JOHN HODGSON
Columbiana
A vote for ambulance service
EDITOR:
Regarding a Vindicator article of Feb. 17, yes, I think the Boardman trustees would do well to look into having our own ambulance service, versus using the commercial companies that are out there now.
And yes, I speak from experience.
On the morning of Jan. 2, my husband took ill, and although the Boardman Fire Department did all it could, it was not enough. The ambulance called was the closest one to Boardman and, unfortunately, it was at St. Elizabeth's on Belmont Avenue.
It took over 20 minutes to get to my house and it was too late to help my husband. If the ambulance would have gotten here sooner, it might not have made a difference, but I'll never know that.
Boardman trustees need to look into having our own ambulance service. Maybe it won't be too late for the next victim.
FRANCES WAGNER
Youngstown