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Board of Directors

Dennis Raleigh, President
Diane Johnson, Vice President
Bob Peiler, Treasurer
Melissa Ditkowich, Secretary
Donna Adamic
Michelle Bednarz
Magda Favale
Rodolfo Hernandez
Mario Lavorato
Barrett Marlar

Honorary Board Members

Larry Dominick, Town President
Elizabeth "Lisa" Hernandez,
  State Representative, 24th District
Chris Berkos
Rita Berkos
Barry Cannizzo
James Heelan
Helen "Scottie" Heelan
Jean Rehor

Executive Director
John Morgan, LCPC

Family Service and Mental
Health Center of Cicero

5341 W. Cermak Road
Cicero, Illinois 60804
www.cicerofs.org
(708) 656-6430

December 22, 2008

Mental Health Care Funding Cuts Leave Our Most Vulnerable Without Help

Funding cuts that have hit the mental health system in Illinois this year are taking a toll on the local community.

"Our waiting list is growing because our resources are shrinking," said John Morgan, Executive Director. "Adults and children with serious mental health concerns are waiting longer and longer for care."

Sonia, 32, is a perfect example of what is happening in our community. Sonia contacted Family Service in late October seeking counseling due to feelings of uncontrolled anger and depression. She met with the agency’s intake worker at that time and reported an extensive history of physical and sexual abuse. She stated that her mother often blamed her for the sexual abuse which was perpetrated by her step-father throughout her teen years.

Sonia reported that she bottles up all her feelings then explodes in a rage. She has attempted suicide many times throughout her life and continues to have suicidal thoughts from time to time, though she denied having any current suicidal plans.

Sonia stated that she hates the winter months and feels more depressed at this time of year. She has always had problems sleeping and only sleeps about five hours a night, but feels that is normal. She reported that she feels sad, "stressed out" and anxious most of the time. She has little energy to do anything and feels tired all the time.

Sonia has been treated with medications by her primary care physician in the past, but does not feel the medications were very helpful. She has never had any counseling to deal with her problems. Sonia eventually stopped seeing her doctor and discontinued the medications. She came to the agency hoping to see a therapist and stated that she was open to the idea of seeing a psychiatrist for an evaluation and trying medications again, if recommended.

Sonia remains on the agency's waiting list today. She is one of more than 50 children and adults waiting for someone to answer their call for help.

"It's painful to turn people away with serious mental health problems, knowing they have nowhere else to turn," Morgan said. "For some time now, resources have not been adequate to meet the community's needs for affordable mental health care and the situation is only getting worse. We are now telling those who contact the Center that we will not be able to offer help until well into next year."

Do you believe that appropriate care should be available for persons like Sonia and others with serious mental health concerns? Here are some things you can do to help:

• Make a donation to Family Service (Download Donor Card PDF)
• Make a donation to the United Way
• Sign up to be a Mental Health Advocate. We will send you a brief "alert" with simple and specific actions you can take, when needed, to help influence decisions that will improve mental health care in the local community and across the nation.

In order to protect the privacy of our clients, the names and photos used in these profiles are not that of the actual client. Other information may also be slightly altered to ensure that the individual is not identifiable.