Today we are talking about the Two Olmstead's - a conversation about community. What is it? Some communities are easy to pinpoint, like a business community defined by trade. Others, a little less so, like church community defined by denomination. Even less than that, online communities defined by activity or even something less tangible, communities like Black twitter or SMI twitter. Others communities have a multi-layered understanding, that intersects with home and politics, like urban, rural and suburban communities.

Growing up in suburban Georgia, I didn’t know urban meant Black people until I became politically involved. Before then I thought it meant New Yorkers. For a better example of what I mean, politically, Georgia was able to move mental illness legislation by focusing on the disconnection of rural communities, not suburban or urban. That carries quite a political weight. Much like the word community in the world of mental illness.
For most Americans community means home. A place where your needs are met. Where your family goes to school and work, engages with friends and neighbors – a place to thrive.
For the mental illness community, community carries that political duality. Community means Olmstead. Today well take a look at the legacy of Olmstead. And what it means to access community treatment.

"Make Them Hear You" is an original podcast from Treatment Advocacy Center - the oldest national non-profit dedicated to eliminating the barriers to treatment for severe mental illness. In this podcast series, Treatment Advocacy Center's Senior Legislative and Policy Counsel, Sabah Muhammad, is the host and leads listeners through courageous conversations which uplift the voices of some of our most vulnerable members of society: individuals of color with a diagnosis of severe mental illness.

Visit Treatment Advocacy Center's website to learn more: treatmentadvocacycenter.org

Direct media inquiries to press@treatmentadvocacycenter.org

"Make Them Hear You" is hosted by Sabah Muhammad.

Produced by Bill Retherford, Sabah Muhammad, and Shannon Zogran.

Written and edited by Sabah Muhammad, Shannon Zogran, Lisa Dailey, and Michael Gray.