Caring for Luke
Monday, June 25 2007
Caring for Luke
Tricia Ashley with her son, Luke
Across the United States, ways of caring for the mentally ill are changing. Large institutions are closing, and smaller, private organizations are taking on the bulk of care. Often the result is a shortage of beds.
Luke Ashley was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2000. For three years, he was in and out of mental hospitals and other facilities. Because he had a drug problem, he also was in and out of the criminal justice system.
Luke Ashley on his 21st birthday
After Luke failed his last drug test, he was sentenced to time in a state-run substance abuse program - but there was no space for him. So Luke went to jail, where was put on suicide watch. Yet Luke ended up committing suicide anyway. Dick Gordon talks with Luke's mother, Tricia Ashley.
Dick also talks with reporter Mary Beth Pfeiffer. She has been researching the increasing number of people with mental illnesses within America's prisons.
- Learn about support for people with mental illnesses and their families
- Read Mary Beth Pfeiffer's book, "Crazy in America"
- See a short documentary made about Luke
Memories of a Milkman
Harold Limmer is 92 years old. He worked for the Dairy Land Creamery in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for nearly 50 years. His story takes us back to another era, when milk was delivered door to door, and a quart cost you a grand total of 10 cents.
It wasn't always easy: milk froze in the winter. But customers offered coffee and the job had other benefits: it was through his work that Harold met his wife.
