Hide Article Text (OCR)
u«lt;t»VirtiRescue Mission delicately deals with mental illness^ ♦lecky Cannady is one of many homeless persons who have been treated for a mental illness. “ epression and starve myself and had to get medications,” Cannady said outside the Panama CTerry Barrier / The News Heraldi'e been treated for a mental illness. ul used to go into aa • i i ti / i a* _ •. (EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part one of a two-part series on displaced or homeless persons who have mental ill-$less. Today: Die daily reality of mental illness among the homeless, as well as its. local prevalence. TUesday: Statewide and local mental illness resource shortages exacerbate the problem.)4Ipy Cara NewNews Herald Writer747-5071 / cnew0pcnh.comPANAMA CITYwas 5 p.m., dinner time at the City Rescue Mission, and a stream of men and women poured silently out of the chapel, their pace just short of a jog. buzz of conversation hummed alive in the dining room.In the hallway, one man dragged a stuffed garment bag from a closet and began unpacking his assorted lujggage. He methodically unfolded every shirt and pair of pants, sticking his hand into eachPanama City Rescue Mission• Where: 609 Allen Ave., Panama City• Phone: 769-0783pocket before repacking the bag.“He does that every night,” said Joe Whitesell, the mission’s client advocate, from his vantage point at the front desk.With only 29 people checked in; Whitesell said it’s a slow night — 65 to 70 guests is average. There are 40 beds, so it’s typical for people to sleep in the pews of the mission’s chapel.Whitesell worked at car dealerships for 20 years before coming to the mission, a squat building perched above a worn strip of U.S. Business 98 in Panama City. Instead of using his affable manners to send cars home with customers, these days Whitesell is convincing displaced people to tell him about their past, applySee MISSION 7AJoe Whitesell is the client advocate for the Panama City Rescue Mission.
Newspaper Details
Panama City News Herald
Panama City, Florida, US
Mon, May 03, 2004
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Chastity W.
AL, USA 22 Mar 2022
Other Publications Near Panama City, Florida
Panama City Pilot
Panama City News Herald Sunday
Panama City News Herald
Panama News Herald
Panama City News
