Letter to the Editor: A Visitor's Lament

Just a comment of sadness. My husband and I came to New Port Richey last week to purchase a home and retire. I am a retired teacher and would have been a taxpayer and purchaser in the area. We loved the town, but first were concerned about the number of empty buildings downtown where we would have liked to have seen a grocery store, tourist information - maybe tours on stars homes etc. More concerning were the comments of local workers that things had not changed in two years. People were only interested in festivals, not daily activities to bring in tax dollars.

More concerning was the response from the State of Florida and all the local resources I contacted regarding my younger brother who has a well controlled mental illness, but does require medication and monitoring that I cannot afford. When I finally got the answers from your local social services and United Way that Florida does not want males on medicaid to come here, I was shocked. That I should expect him to be refused FL State Medicaid even though he is on Medicaid in our home state. That all the resources I saw on line where non-exsisten when we tried to visit them in person.

My brother is well educated, has seen my mother through a serious illness for 10 years, and had helped me through neck surgeries, etc. He is a social, loving, good man. It was difficult to talk to a total of 14 different people and agencies to find that Florida no longer has programs for or want people here who have a mental disease or are dependent on Medicaid. I would hope the taxes I have paid for the last 50 years to the federal government ( who maintains your interestates, WIC, teen pregnancy, etc) would have also helped the mentally ill like my brother. I ended up feeling unwanted, talked down to, and in general a lovely spot, your state and county, seemed not so lovely. So, I will take my retirement dollars that would have been spent in your county, and well as our taxes and community involvement, and visit other states to retire to, who also have very low housing prices. And I am sad because I loved the area and the people I met on the streets. I feel we could have contributed in a positive way towards your community. I wonder how many others have come and left here for the same reasons. You have many empty storefronts and homes. Maybe, it's time to find out.

----Jenny Diehl

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