As a Federal Way resident, I was alarmed and upset to learn that Valley Cities’ Woodmont Recovery Center has been forced to relocate to a location that does not fully meet its needs.

I was further concerned when I read Sen. Mark Miloscia’s letter to the editor supporting the relocation of Woodmont Recovery Center, which seems to sum up the argument for relocation. Sen. Miloscia says that “we need a solution that does not put our children and safe public spaces at risk,” thereby reinforcing a harmful stereotype that people with behavioral health concerns are dangerous and should not be around children or the general public.

Fear-mongering and stigma such as this is exactly what prevents people with treatable illnesses from reaching out for help and reinforces the isolation and silencing of people with mental and substance use disorders. This position also creates concrete barriers to services as well, an example being that Valley Cities has been forced to relocate the Woodmont Recovery Center to a location it feels will not as effectively serve the needs of its clients. In reality, people with mental illness are much more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators of violence.

About 60 percent of U.S. adults living with mental illness received no treatment for their disorder in the past year; both stigma and lack of access to services contribute to this. Setting aside for a moment the problematic language of labeling people with behavioral health disorders as “the ill,” a solution that “balances the growing needs of the ill with community safety” would be a solution that recognizes community safety is best served by welcoming and supporting people with behavioral health concerns, instead of further stigmatizing and marginalizing them and creating even more barriers to treatment.

About 25 percent of U.S. adults are now experiencing a mental illness and almost 50 percent will experience at least one mental illness in their lifetime. They are not “the ill.” They are us.

Elizabeth Miranda-Needham, Federal Way