The Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism
1998-1999

Kathi Wolfe
Freelance Writer
Contributor to The Washington Post,
Miami Herald, and Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Falls Church, Virginia

TOPIC: Aging parents of children with mental illnesses.

First-Ever Meeting Focuses on Gay Mental Health
At the start of every school year when she was a teenager, Paula Lafferty, 37, said she was like every other teen, pledging to get good grades and hoping to get picked for sports teams. But two things set her apart from her peers: her bisexuality and her depression

Faiths Rethink Stance on Suicide
The Rev. Charles Rubey, a priest with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago, recently talked with a mother whose son had committed suicide. The woman poured out her grief to him. But what made her anguish even more excruciating, Father Rubey said, was the insensitive way in which people responded to her pain.

Who Will Care for Their Children? Aging Parents Worry About Mentally Ill Sons & Daughters Whom They Leave Behind
For more than 25 years, Ned and Nancy Schaefer have worried about one of their sons, who suffers from schizophrenia.