To the Editor:

A recent 60 Minutes episode, "Newtown 4 Years Later," starts with the comment: "When a mentally ill man murdered 20 first graders and six educators at Sandy Hook School..." Mentally ill. For weeks and months Newtowners talked about the desperate need to have better mental health access and treatment. Do you remember? Now the state of Connecticut is proposing vast budget cuts to the state's mental health programs.

The people that these programs serve do not have a voice. These cuts do not generate the same outcry as cutting a school budget. Many will be homeless; some of them will be homeless for the second or third time. They will not have stabilizing medication. On 12/14 we were moved to try to make the world safe and prevent violence. Gun safety is only part of the equitation. Mental health access and treatment is the biggest challenge. Please, call, write, e-mail, send smoke signals, whatever, to your state representative and the governor. Tell them you do not support the cuts to the states mental health programs. We, as Newtown, can say that we believe mental health to be a necessity.

Cris Carvalho

5 Sunset Hill Road, Newtown       April 25, 2017