March 6, 2026

The Mental Health Association in Tompkins County is deeply disturbed and heartbroken by the circumstances that led to the emergency evacuation of residents from Asteri. This situation did not happen overnight. It is the result of years of neglect, indifference, and a collective failure to treat vulnerable people in our community with the dignity and care they deserve.

These are human beings and our neighbors. For too long, many of us have watched this situation unfold. 

Our team of peer advocates supports people who are living in this building. They have told us, repeatedly, that they have felt unsafe in their homes and that the conditions fell far below basic standards for safe housing. That is not rhetoric. That is what people experiencing it have said.

This is not just about stigma. Stigma is harmful enough. But what we are witnessing goes beyond stigma. When people living with substance use disorders, mental health challenges, or homelessness are treated as disposable or invisible, it becomes something darker: a form of social abandonment that erodes the moral fabric of a community.

Hatred and dehumanization weaken communities. They make it easier for suffering to be ignored and for dangerous conditions to persist. When we allow certain people to be treated as less worthy of safety, housing, and dignity, we damage the health of the entire community.

Preventive care, supportive services, and compassionate housing solutions do the opposite. When communities invest in support like peer services, harm reduction, mental health care, stable housing, and early intervention, we strengthen the entire social fabric. People stabilize. Families heal. Neighborhoods become safer. Communities become more resilient.

Instead, we have watched policies driven by optics rather than care.

The City of Ithaca has repeatedly expressed a desire to clear the homeless encampments, pushing people out of visible spaces in the name of order. But pushing people out of sight does not solve homelessness, addiction, or mental health challenges. It simply moves human suffering from one place to another often into more dangerous and unstable conditions.

If our priority is appearance rather than people, we will continue to fail.

And we must also name the responsibility of the property owners. Landlords have a duty of care. When housing is unsafe, tenants should not be the ones left to suffer the consequences. If a building becomes uninhabitable, the responsibility should fall on the landlord to ensure that tenants are safely housed including providing temporary accommodations if necessary. This is a tragedy. And it is one that could have been prevented.

Shame on Asteri.

Shame on the City of Ithaca.

We must also reflect on ourselves, because as a community, we have all watched this unfold. We must commit to building a system that prioritizes care, prevention, and dignity, not optics. Our community is only as strong as the way we treat those who are struggling the most.

Right now, we must do better.

Josephine Gibson
CEO
Mental Health Association in Tompkins County