He needs medicine. His temper also has led to several run-ins with local law enforcement, including allegedly assaulting a police officer. Jimmy DeFoor, head of the community services division. He's very dangerous. Mental illness put him on the edge of society.
Homelessness is a complex problem in Abilene.
In late 1995, students from Hardin-Simmons University's social work department interviewed 87 people at Hope Haven and the Salvation Army to find how and why they became homeless. Their findings astounded them and shattered their assumptions. Often, highly educated individuals have landed on the street after some trauma in their lives such as a death in the family, which sent them into a tailspin, she said. Nationally, mental illness accounts for 20 to 25 percent of the single adult homeless population, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. Mental illness prevents people from carrying out essential aspects of daily care, such as self-care, household management and interpersonal relationships, according to the coalition.