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This interview gives, I think, one of the most unvarnished discussions I’ve ever had on drug use and mental health issues in the homeless community.

Patty uses meth every day. This interview delves into that reality.

Part 3 focuses on Michael explaining the forced medication he was given in New Day Court.

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If you prefer, you can watch the interview here:

This segment of the interview has to do with their spirituality and their place in the universe from their perspectives.

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Here is the video version of the interview:

New Day Court In Summit County forcibly medicates and hospitalizes people against their will. It can last 90 days to 2 years. I know of no other court like this in the country.

I want to talk more about this program. But I want to unfold this conversation with Harley Quinn and Michael first. Michael will be telling his story in the next episode.

This is also in video on YouTube here:

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ZigZag is an extremely interesting person. He is an artist and intellect. He is very well educated.

You are always guaranteed to have an interesting conversation when you hang out with ZigZag.

I did this interview on Friday, September 8, 2023. Kenny had just lost his housing. He was probably in that house for about 6 months. You'll see in the video that he puts all the blame on himself. But that's never the way any of this works.

Yes. There is personal responsibility. But how the HELL could Community Support Services not get him psychological treatment? He deals with hallucinations. He can't work with other people without blowing up.

Kenny can blame himself all he wants. But this is a complete and total failure of the system. Someone needed to be working on getting him on disability. I know many people less ravaged by mental illness than Kenny that have their disability payments.

He was going to Community Support Services regularly. He was doing everything they told him to do to get into that house. And then when he got in the house they declared it "Mission Accomplished" and closed the book on Kenny.

We ALL know that if a person doesn't have income, or a very clear line on income, Rapid Rehousing doesn't work. IT NEVER WORKS in cases like these. We all know it and yet the system sets guys like Kenny up for failure.

"Housing First", which is what this Rapid Rehousing program represents, is the idea that you get a person into housing and then you work with them to get the other stuff. "Housing First" is a near total failure in Akron because they just do "Housing Only." Now we have a guy who can't do Rapid Rehousing for years.

He will be moved to the bottom of every single list of housing options because he "failed." Kenny is looking at another 5-6 years, EASILY back on the street. And it's worse out here because they have turned me into a criminal for trying to shelter guys like Kenny.

This is a failure on Community Support Services, United Way who runs the Rapid Rehousing program, and of course the Summit County Continuum of Care. The Summit County Ohio homeless services system is a complete and total failure.

These stories are heartbreaking. They crush my soul. They fill me with rage and then deep hopelessness and despair. How did we get to this place in our society where women like Krysten have to live like diseased rodents hated by society? If you are able to contribute to our work, please donate here:

https://donorbox.org/help-me-help-our-houseless-neighbors

Here’s the podcast on YouTube:

Sage’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Episode 123 of the Sage Against The Machine Podcast

I am going to attempt to put it these interviews up every Monday morning. Jay tells the brutal story of being institutionalized in America. He shows very clearly how keeping him locked up is incentivized for all of society. There is no incentive for society to help Jay get a place to live and get a job.

Jay is much more valuable to the system being incarcerated. He becomes a paycheck for everyone as an inmate. He becomes a check mark in the win column of “being tough on crime.” There is no metric the rewards society for keeping Jay out of prison. Recidivism puts all the blame on Jay and never looks at a system that wants to do everything in its power to get Jay back behind bars.

If you want to support our work you can do so here:

https://donorbox.org/help-me-help-our-houseless-neighbors

Here is the interview on YouTube: