" My kind and caring father, spouse, and physician," recounted Ellen Brown in an interview with Cathy Tasman, chair of the APA Alliance Elsa Barton Scholarship Fund. " After an acute episode that precipitated a severe and disabling mental illness, my husband was no longer able to function as a physician. He was hospitalized for a time, but never acknowledged his illness or remained in therapy. Our family life was turned upside down—there were sleepless nights and a fearfulness about what would happen in the future.

" When my husband became ill, I was raising our four children and teaching piano part time—earning $500 a month. My husband was a young, healthy physician and never anticipated needing disability insurance. In denial of his illness, he would not apply for Social Security disability. Because we were dependent upon my husband’s income, our family’s financial difficulties became significant.

" Our family life went from bad to worse, and I had no choice but to seek a divorce, an action that was abhorrent to me but necessary at this point in our marriage. I was unable to pay for psychiatric help for myself or my children. A social service agency arranged for us to see a social worker and to get legal aid. The social worker, whom my children and I saw only occasionally, was our only outlet for psychological support—neither the children nor I ever spoke with anyone socially who had personally experienced a similar family situation. The children and I felt so isolated in every way—my husband’s coworkers distanced themselves from our family, and friends were hesitant to stay in contact. Unfortunately the stigma against mental illness still exists, sometimes even within the medical community."

According to Tasman, Ellen held two jobs, eventually teaching music full time in an elementary school. She worked tirelessly as a single parent to help her children get on with their lives and to thrive. The eldest, now a sophomore at a university, received an Elsa Barton Scholarship in May 1999. Additional funding came from a Pell grant and educational loans. Despite his traumatic high school years, he is a well-adjusted young adult with a good sense of humor. A kind and understanding person, he is a mentor to younger students in his dorm, often giving them well-received, down-to-earth advice.

" The Elsa Barton Scholarship gave us hope that someone cared, that someone recognized the turmoil that our family faced day in and day out," said Ellen Brown. " The Elsa Barton Scholarship made us feel that someone wanted our family to succeed, to be able to go to college, to have a positive, productive life, to have hope, to have a future—thank you."