I have heard the argument that homeless people are lazy, that they should just get a job and stop wasting their time and then begging for money. Clearly this is an irrational argument given the current rates of unemployment, the many types of people who are homeless and reasons why they are homeless. What many people are unaware of is that one of the types of homeless people are those with mental illnesses.  Jencks states in his book The Homeless “Clinicians who examine the homeless today usually conclude that about a third have ‘severe’ mental disorders. Since the homeless were often hospitalized in the 1950s…, well over a third of today’s homeless might have been locked up at that time. Recreating the mental-health system of the 1950s would therefore cut today’s homeless population dramatically.” Reviewer Reeve Vanneman asks readers where they stand on this issue.  After researching and hearing about Mental Health programs in the 1950s, I do not agree with the methods that were in place at the time. Many people were admitted into hospitals that did’nt need to be and were also given wrong diagnoses, and medications that increased their problems. I am a strong supporter of progressive interactive therapy programs for people who suffer from a variety of mental illnesses.   My father is a Psychiatric RN and works with homeless people that are admitted in the hospital all the time. He has told me that 70% of the homeless people in Marin County, CA have some form of mental illness. What I want to know is if homelessness causes mental illness or intensifies it.  Homeless people are under constant stress for survival, safety, access to food, bathrooms, and a place where they can sleep.   I believe that traumatic experiences such as fighting in war, poverty, gangs membership,  physical and sexual assault, drug and alcohol abuse,  which all cause post traumatic stress also increase mental illness. At my Dad’s hospital, on the crisis unit and both in and out patient, he  does therapeutic work  that is interactive, participatory and activity based. He integrates, meditation, yoga, movement, art and music therapy in group sessions.   The Odyssey Program for the Homeless and Mentally Ill, help them get housing,  first they find a  shelter then  help them move into low income housing apartments. They also help the clients get  to appointments, access to meals and groceries.   The Bucklew Nonprofit partners with Marin General Hospital as well. They guarantee to find them a job and provide training.  The Ritter House for the homeless has their own psychiatrist at the Ritter center and makes sure that their clients are getting there needs met.  Social Services are always the first to be cut from County, State and Federal funding.  All these programs need more funding for their services and to have more paid positions within the organization to provide services.