Support Saul Nunez's Memorial and Legacy

May Saul’s memory be a blessing

Saul Antonio Nunez

Sep 17, 1997 - Nov 3, 2024

On the morning of November 3, I got the knock from the police no mother should ever get. My 27-year-old son was found hanged in the soccer field in Van Cortlandt Park. Saul needed individual help; he had a severe mental illness.

Saul’s difficult life touched a lot of people. Family and friends asked me to allow them to be part of Saul’s life celebration and help keep his legacy alive. They asked me to create this fundraiser so they have the privilege to be part of Saul’s life celebration and legacy.

Saul struggled with severe mental illness since he was a teen. Because of his first psychotic episode and the mental health system failing Saul, he spent 29 months at Rikers waiting for a trial which never happened. Finally, Saul got free from Rikers, but he was never free of the horrors of Rikers, which added to the horrors of his severe mental illness, was like a death sentence for Saul. When he was released, he felt sad for all the mentally ill people he left behind suffering in a system which is not designed to help the severely mentally ill.

The saddest part is one of our last conversations. Saul did not understand why some people around here were nice to people from the Riverdale Assistant Living place and not to him; they were all both disabled.

Let Saul’s memory be a blessing and make us pause and show more understanding, patience, support, and empathy to the mentally ill; especially the severely mentally ill. Let us understand that helping the mentally ill is not just giving them a pill which could make their condition worse. Helping the mentally ill means listening to them, providing basic needs like a safe home environment designed for their special needs; a home with a community setting where they can socialize but still have some individuality and privacy; let them eat together, laugh together, sing together, and cry together. Let us reform the justice, mental health, and housing systems to be more appropriate for the mentally ill.

Thanks for every donation. Saul’s life celebration will be announced later.

The funds will be used to pay for the funeral, Saul’s life celebration, and his final place. If any money is left, it will be used to keep Saul’s legacy alive. Saul had a great talent for writing; the way he described his mental illness and how he saw the world and how the world saw him is worth publishing. His writings are a treasure to me, but perhaps I should publish them; it will help us be more understanding of people with severe mental illness.

Saul wrote “24 letters in May” and I want to share one quote from his writing.

“Be kind to everyone. Always. Even though you may be going through hard times - there are lots of people going through a lot worse day than you and this is not your fault or your responsibility to fix but be careful not to push people.”

FLY HIGH SAUL; FINALLY YOU ARE FREE! Saul is finally in peace at home with his celestial father.

Rosa Nazar: Saul’s mom.