Suggesting to those in need that they take time away from what few resources they do have to discuss the possibility of resources that might come to pass is ludicrous. Perhaps, though, in light of your surprise that no one showed up for your litmus test, it is more likely you haven’t made the effort to get acquainted with the resources that already exist. This is curious (if not a wee bit suspect) because some of those resources have appeared in the same print media as the article announcing the forum.

In lieu of asking questions of those in need, you instead discussed their absence. You concluded that some of the money should be spent on reaching out to them. Any validation of that effort would be glibly enabling, so let’s try this instead: How could educated and reputable professionals in the position of receiving millions of dollars be so blind?

Yes, you should reach out to them, assuming that by “reach out” you mean “go to them” and not “come to us” - what with that having worked so well. If, however, you still expect them to stand in line to fill out paperwork and answer questions posed by those who still don’t know where to start, you’ll be alone in your disappointment in much the same way you were last week.

Saying you’re not looking to duplicate services is perplexing because you want would-be recipients to tell you what they need. By profession, you know what they need. By your own admission, you know what they aren’t getting. Since you’re out to help in whatever million-dollar way you can, it’s a good bet that a person could go to you for screening, diagnosis, and treatment - and get it.

That, my dear forum leaders, is a duplication of services.

Your own To-Do-To-Whom list includes “those at risk of suicide, substance abusers, homeless veterans, female service members, troops booted out of the military on bad conduct discharges (rendering them ineligible for benefits), and gay and lesbian service members.” A homosexual, suicidal, and homeless vet with a bad conduct discharge in hand will have to go to at least four different places to get what s/he needs. Remove any one component of that equation and s/he is still going in three different directions.

That disconnected wild goose chase is already in place, courtesy of the federal government’s treatment of the war wounded. To be fair, your doing the same would technically be more a duplication of hindrance than service.

The reality is that there already exists every service necessary to provide for those in need. What does not exist is quality, consistency, proximity, and longevity of care.

Consolidate, subsidize, and improve the care of already-existing services. There, we’ve got it sorted.

Your improper planning indicates the way the money will be managed. That notwithstanding, let us consider that it took several upstanding citizens four hours to conclude what would’ve taken civic-minded third graders about 30 seconds: Reaching out to those in need would be a good place to start. Unfortunately, that’s not where you started. You started by telling those in need to reach out to you.