Nassau needs eating disorders home
A house at One St. Andrews Lane in Glen Cove, on Jan. 25, 2018. Residents of a Glen Cove neighborhood are battling a for-profit company's plan to house folks with eating disorders in a large home the company recently purchased. Credit: Yeong-Ung Yang
Eating disorders are estimated to affect nearly 25 million Americans and result in among the highest mortality rate of any mental illness [“Rejection of eating disorder home to be appealed,” News, Feb. 24].
They can affect anyone at any age and can be difficult to treat. A group home can provide a safe place for a patient to continue to improve before returning home to the triggers that they have to overcome.
While I understand that a resident might not want to have a small group home in his or her neighborhood, it’s up to elected officials to look at things objectively and do what they think is right based on the merits of a proposal. I think the merits of the Monte Nido & Affiliates proposal in Glen Cove speak for themselves: We don’t have a treatment home like this in Nassau County, eating disorders affect many county residents, and the impact on the residents of Glen Cove would be minimal.
But instead, Mayor Timothy Tenke and the City Council looked just to please a minority of residents and score political points; they rejected a fair and needed treatment home. Tenke said that Glen Cove is an “accepting city” — unless, of course, you suffer from a mental illness.
Christopher Shannon, Fort Salonga
Editor’s note: The writer has a family member with an eating disorder.
How disappointing and sad that the City of Glen Cove did not approve the residence for people with eating disorders.
The people who would live in the home would not be criminals or threats to the community; they would be people who seek treatment for a serious illness. What has happened to our compassion and concern for our fellow humans?
Linda Rosen, Plainview
