National & International

Metro & State

John Archibald
Local Government With Kyle Whitmire
Conservation: The Behavior Gap
Magic City Marketplace
The Price of Poverty
Price of Poverty: Time Banks
Price of Poverty: Involuntary Flextime
Price of Poverty: Buy-a-Meter
Birmingham-Southern's Struggles: a Student Perspective
Price of Poverty: Food Deserts
Remembering Cecil Whitmire
Occupational Tax Settlement
Child Care Subsidies at Risk
Robert Bentley
Vestavia Hills: Library in the Forest
Hotel Tax Dispute
Oil Spill and Hair Sausages
Anne Frank and Me
Jefferson County Commission Runoff
On the Line: Ask the Mayor
Midwives in Alabama
The Future of the Jefferson County Commission
New EPA Sulfur Dioxide Rules
Alabama Gubernatorial Primary 2010
Alabama and the Oil Spill: Seafood Safety
Alabama and the Oil Spill: One Family's Story
Bike to Work
The ASO plays Carnegie Hall
Alabama and the Oil Spill: Hurricane Season
News Features Archive

90.3 WBHM | Birmingham -- On a cold December night about thirty women busy themselves on the second floor of the First Light Shelter in Birmingham. They shower, do laundry, watch television together. For the last several months this large, open room with its rows of beds and lockers have been home.

First Light is an emergency shelter for women and children in the city. On top of the thirty-some women on the second floor, typically staying about three months, there's an overflow shelter in what doubles as the lunch room during the day. It is a bright, airy building -- the majority of its residents suffering from some form of mental illness. Among them, Phyllis Patterson.

Patterson lived on the streets for twenty-three years. Strung out on drugs she prostituted for the money and, later, just to get a fix. She battles demons from her childhood and major depression. On the street she says she looked to the drugs to make her feel better. Since coming to First Light, Patterson's been on medication to help her cope with her depression and anger. She's also slowly coming to terms with her past. She says, for the first time in a long while she feels whole and human. You can hear Patterson tell her story by clicking the audio link above.

-- Rosemary Pennington, December 21, 2005

Editor's note: This is our lastest piece in a year-long commitment to covering mental health issues in Alabama. You can learn more about our "Making Sense of Mental Health" project and find local mental health resources -- as our commitment continues throughout the year -- inside this website.

More | Making Sense of Mental Health

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