Benjamin Barnes is a talented musician who has taught guitar, viola and violin for decades and built up a successful business in San Francisco teaching music lessons.
But Barnes also suffers from bipolar disorder, and his life fell apart three years ago during a particularly bad episode when he became angry at a former business partner.
“I ended up just calling and making some threats,” said Barnes.
Those threats led to his arrest and a felony charge.
“I lost all my students, I lost my business, I wasn’t able to play any gigs. I wasn’t even focused enough to even be able to go and busk in a BART station.”
Barnes also became homeless and could easily still be on the streets to this day had not qualified for San Francisco’s Behavioral Health Court. The program provides mental health services and housing, and when a participant graduates any non-violent charges they are facing are dropped.
“It helped me rebuild my life after I pretty much lost everything.”
Barnes is one of the rare examples of a good news story where a San Francisco resident was helped by the court system after suffering a mental health breakdown.
He performed at his graduation from the support program and every ceremony since as a reminder of the progress he has made. The program has a high success rate with nearly all graduates remaining housed and healthy.
But those graduations can also be bittersweet.
“There were about 10 [people in my graduating class> Not a whole lot of people qualify for it,” said Barnes.
In fact, there are only a couple dozen spots available each year. Compare that with the over 8,000 homeless residents in San Francisco according to a city-wide count this year.
City officials are working to expand the number of mental health beds available. There are 200 in the city’s current budget.
“Our goal is to expand those treatments, to add over the long term even more beds,” said Jeff Cretan, a spokesperson for Mayor London Breed. “Whether they’re mental health beds or substance abuse beds to help people ultimately get their lives together, get stable and transition into long-term housing.”
Barnes knows he is one of the lucky ones. “A lot of people find themselves in my position, don’t know where to go and they aren’t capable of bringing themselves back without a lot of support.”