lisa.applegate@roanoke.com 981-3209
   
   Last summer, six years after her daughter first showed signs of a mental illness at age 16, Carol Ryan could finally admit that things were not getting better.
   Her daughter had been hospitalized several times. It was tough to find the right medications. Her daughter was moving back home after being unable to live on her own.
   Ryan and her husband, John, couldn't find services for their daughter or guidance for themselves. They worried what would happen to their daughter if anything happened to them.
   "You've got to have a strategic plan," said John Ryan. "How do you plan for that child's survival?"
   Then, last fall, they signed up for MESA, or Mutual Education, Support and Advocacy. The almost 20-year-old program is the only one in the Roanoke area to provide a free course on mental illness for families trying to help.
   In years past, MESA classes have had just a handful of people in attendance. But after The Roanoke Times published a story about the classes last fall, 38 people attended the 12-week course, enough to add a second class to accommodate everyone.
   The first MESA program of 2004 began last week, but people can still sign up.
   The Ryans considered themselves well-educated about mental illness. They were open with friends and family. But until MESA, they said, they felt lost and alone.
   "People with mental illness need lifelong help and our society does nothing for them. Sometimes families just give up," Carol Ryan said.
   The Ryans said participants in their MESA class had mentally ill family members ranging in age from 17 to 70. They shared their stories, but more importantly, they shared advice.
   Now, the Ryans have managed to sign up their daughter for federal disability benefits. They've enrolled her in Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare for regular treatment. They hope to move her into her own apartment in a few months.
   John Ryan said the MESA class was their last hope. But taking the class "should be the first thing people do."
   
   Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare and National Alliance for the Mentally Ill-Roanoke Valley co-sponsor MESA. For more information, call 344-8386 or 977-3470.