Six years ago, former corrections officer Mark Burchell was so ill from bipolar disorder that he imagined himself as a military general out to save the world. In reality, he was an unwashed, stubbly homeless man searching out bus shelters and still-warm car hoods to sleep on at night.
The habit earned him stay after stay in jail until he was admitted to Nevada's ground-breaking Mental Health Court system, which steered him to stability and ultimately, a post as president of the Nevada chapter of the National Alliance for Mental Illness. Burchell is now fighting to save the life of the program, which would be moved under Gov. Brian Sandoval's proposed budget from the state's authority and made the responsibility of cash-strapped counties who say they can't afford it.
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