Photo by Bill Green U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., visits the Way Station on Monday morning to highlight the need for mental health care. She is shown at the announcement with John Colmers, secretary, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, left, and Scott Rose, president of Way Station Inc. Purchase this photo

Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, announced Monday at the Way Station in Frederick that she is seeking the money to help fund a program to assist low-income, mentally ill people find and maintain work.

"When I looked at this project, I thought, 'Oh wow, this is exactly what President Obama and all of us want to do,'" Mikulski said. "We want to have people back to work. We want to lower that unemployment number."

The three-year pilot program will take place in Frederick County, five other Maryland counties and Baltimore City.

In place since September, the program's goal is to help 500 people with severe mental illness each year. The nonprofit mental health organization Way Station, in Frederick , has served 180 people since the program began.

The total project cost is $9 million; 72 percent of the funding comes from the state; 20 percent from a grant from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.

The remaining 8 percent is proposed federal spending through the Senate Committee on Health, Education and Labor.

"I came here today, to not only to learn the facts and the figures, which I could get through a memo, but to talk to the people who are the most affected and the people who effect change," Mikulski said. "So I'm fired up and rarin' to go, and hope to have a successful announcement by Labor Day."

The program's goal is to employ up to 75 percent of the participants, compared the national average for the severely mentally ill population of 10 percent to 15 percent, said Steven Sharfstein, president and CEO of the Sheppard Pratt Health System.

The program will use new practices to do that, including customized employment, employment counseling and self-employment.

Frederick County resident Daniel Anderson spoke about the impact the program made on him.

He served in the Maryland National Guard for 10 years and was honorably discharged in 2000. He chose not to re-enlist because of his mental illness. He was originally diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and is diagnosed as having a schizo-effective disorder.

He suffers from mood swings and panic attacks and lost his corporate security job because of the illness, he said.

After several lengthy hospital stays, he was about to be discharged as homeless but Way Station provided him housing and rehabilitation services. He was able to continue his education at Frederick Community College and works 15 hours a week for Frederick electronic recycling company, e-End.

Anderson said the program's job counselor helped him build a r?sum?, gave feedback from his employer and provided emotional support when he became stressed.

He plans to pursue a bachelor's degree in electronic media and film, with the goal of eventually becoming an assistant for a media station and later an independent director and producer.

"I served my country for 10 years and now serve my community, and who knows Senator, one day I may be serving you coffee on the TV set of Fox News," Anderson said.