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To the Governor of North Carolina, Who Just Cut Mental Health Services by $110 Million

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Dear Governor Pat McCrory,

My name is Brooks Fitts and I’m a proud native of Raleigh, North Carolina. I am writing you today concerning something that not only affects me, but millions of North Carolinians across our great state. The most recent budget you signed includes a $110 million dollar cut from regional mental health agencies, and that is not acceptable. Mental health services should be rapidly expanded and funded, not rapidly cut.

This issue is personal for me, as I went through a mental health crisis almost two years ago. I went to a facility which instead of helping me, caused my blood sugar to soar and sent me into psychosis. I was made fun of and laughed at by the workers there, and to this day, I still remember it all too clearly. I later found out that this facility received a $1.6 million dollar grant from the federal government.

North Carolinians deserve the highest quality of mental health care  regardless of income, and by signing a budget that cuts $110 million dollars from regional mental healthcare, you are hurting the most vulnerable. I would urge you to spend a day at a state psychiatric hospital or mental health care facility. Maybe then you would understand that these facilities are in desperate need of upgrades, not cuts.

Your campaign slogan touts a “Carolina Comeback.” Well, for far too many North Carolinians, the latest budget you signed is a “Carolina Step Back.” In order to be a truly great state, we must ensure that we are taking care of the most vulnerable and those who are desperate need of mental health services.

So the next time you sign a budget, I would urge you to not just think of it in terms of numbers, but of people. Think of the millions of North Carolinians who are in dire need of proper mental health services. Think of the millions of North Carolinians whose lives would be improved, if they could only get through the doors of a mental health care provider.

North Carolinians across the state deserve better.

North Carolina’s motto is esse quam videri, meaning, “To be, rather than to seem.”

Let’s be leaders in mental health care.

Let’s start with not cutting $110 million dollars from mental health care, but rapidly expanding mental health care and services.

Together, we can all work towards creating a future where every North Carolinian gets the care they need.

Together, we can create the kind of future our kids will be proud of.

Sincerely,

Brooks Fitts

 

Originally published: August 16, 2016
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