Hope on the Street' to Debut May 13 at Carter Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jon Moor
Phone: 404-420-5107

Note to the public: Please call 404-614-3765 to make reservations by May 12.

Note to news media: Please call 404-420-5107 for credentials by May 12.

ATLANTA....Join former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, KQED Public Television, San Francisco, and Georgia Public Broadcasting for a free preview of the one-hour documentary Hope on the Street – addressing mental illness and homelessness – at 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 13, in the Ivan Allen Pavilion at The Carter Center. The screening will be followed by an open question-and-answer period with producer Michael Isip, Ray Guevara, a bi-polar patient featured in the film, and the narrator, Dede Ranahan, whose son has schizophrenia and has spent time living on the streets. The Carter Center Mental Health Program Director Thomas Bornemann will moderate the event.

Isip produced Hope on the Street as his project for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism. He was a member of the 2000-2001 class of distinguished journalists participating in the Center's ongoing effort to reduce stigma against those with mental illnesses.

According to the 1999 Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health, an estimated one third of the roughly 600,000 Americans who are homeless on any given night have serious mental illnesses. This documentary focuses on the struggles and triumphs of five such people – their need for treatment, and their relationships with their families and mental health professionals. Hope on the Street gives proof that, with proper care, many others can lead healthy and productive lives.

Hope on the Street is underwritten by Eli Lilly and Company, with additional funding from Sound Partners for Community Health, a program of the Benton Foundation funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Georgia Public Television premiere will be on May 18 at 2 p.m.

Founded in 1982 by Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter in partnership with Emory University, the not-for-profit Center works to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health. The Carter Center collaborates with other organizations, public or private, in carrying out this mission. In this way, the Center has touched the lives of millions of people in more than 65 countries.

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Learn more about the Carter Center's Mental Health Program and about Rosalynn Carter's mental health advocacy.