As a relatively new business owner in the downtown area I feel compelled to send a letter of support for Daniel Haley and his concerns in dealing with the mentally ill (Businesses asking city for help dealing with society’s vulnerable, Trail Times Aug. 28).
After reading Holly Wilson’s letter (More help needed for mentally ill, Trail Times Sept. 1) one would be left with the impression that Daniel is not supportive of the mentally ill in this town.
This could not be further from the truth. Mr. Haley has gone above and beyond in helping many of these people by giving them food, lending them transportation, letting them use his phone etc. I have also never met a stronger advocate for all things Trail.
His letter was merely pointing out the difficulties some downtown businesses have in dealing with the large number of mentally ill and drug addicted people wandering into our stores.
We are not all mental health professionals with the skills to deal with some of the difficult behaviors we encounter daily.
We also have to worry about the safety of our staff who are often intimidated by some of the more aggressive individuals who wander in.
Holly acknowledges that services are somewhat lacking when it comes to helping these individuals but the burden should not be placed on business owners.
Running a business is hard enough without being accused of contributing to “incidents” with the mentally ill.
Before we can deal with a problem we have to first acknowledge it and not shame business owners for expressing their concerns.
Tammy Lomin
Trail
