As I watched this deeply touching and beautiful story, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the “street” friends I’ve made over the years as an advocate for the homeless and mentally ill.

I also couldn’t help but notice that the movie opened with Steve Lopez in medical care after his bike accident, while Nathaniel Ayers never received any medical care for his condition.

Therein lies the injustice we live with in our society, a basic injustice that is rooted in stigma, and nourished by misunderstanding and fear of the illnesses of the human brain - and until recently with the passage of the Mental Health Parity Act - perpetuated by an insurance industry that refused to provide anything but paltry benefits for mental health illnesses.

As a society, we wouldn’t just let Steve lie bleeding and suffering in the street. Yet we allow many thousands to do just that because there is no visible blood….just bizarre behavior that signifies mental illness and acute suffering.

How do we answer for that one?

The Soloist poignantly asks all of us that question.

The story also provides hope. There can almost always be a connection like the one forged by Steve with Nathaniel. I call it hand-to-hand combat. It takes time, and persistence, understanding and compassion to create a connection with a person living on the streets and living with an untreated mental illness.

The movie highlights the frustrations felt by many mental health professionals and family members who run up against the fact that the person they’re trying to help is unwell and not rational, and often won’t accept medication or help, yet there isn’t a way to force treatment unless they present ”imminent danger to themselves or others.”

This legal protection is necessary, but time and time again, it leaves the choice up to the very ones trapped in the grip of the illness! That doesn’t seem to be the solution. But I don’t know what the solution is, and it just breaks my heart.

To me the redeeming value of the story is that Nathaniel got better. Not well, but better, came in from the street, could sit through a symphony. All because of the yes, love, that was shown to him by Steve and the LAMP community.

Nathaniel was able to become connected, even as he lived with the voices in his head, a result of his refusal of a medical intervention that might have improved his schizophrenia and eased his suffering.

I always thought that if enough of us would pick one homeless person and be his advocate, we could really solve the problem. Call me an optimist, but I still believe that.

I want to thank everyone who had a part in making this movie a reality. And thanks to Los Angeles Times reporter Steve Lopez for hearing the music. I thought the performances were so stellar, I found myself in tears over the depiction of what it must be like to live with schizophrenia. Jamie Foxx! Right on! Robert Downey Jr. played Steve Lopez with such compassion it touched my heart, and Catherine Keener is always wonderful.

The Soloist left me feeling uplifted by a renewed hope in the transformative power, and unending mystery, of human connections.

Former Second Lady of the United States, Tipper Gore has worked for decades as a hands-on advocate for issues of mental health and homelessness.  She combines her unique perspective and experience in public service with her personal stories and passion for photography to put faces with the statistics, raise awareness, and inspire us to help change the attitudes that perpetuate the stigma associated with mental illness.