The issue of mental health and access to affordable, quality treatment is one that is very important to me. People in my community on the Southwest Side are struggling to find ways to cope with an economic/jobs crisis that puts so much stress on them. This creates a need for more support in maintaining emotional and mental health for their families.
The Mental Health Movement in Chicago has scheduled a public town hall for March 21st in Logan Square to call attention to the effects that the closing of mental health clinics will have on the Latino community. The town hall will take place at Resurrection Catholic Church located at 3043 N. Francisco. The event will feature a panel that includes Former State Senator, City Clerk and Mayoral Candidate Miguel del Valle.
The City Council passed Mayor Rahm’s Emanuel’s proposed 2012 city budget that will close six of 12 mental health clinics operated by the Chicago Department of Public Health. These clinics serve over 5,000 city residents. A group called the Mental Health movement has been organizing against the closure of the six mental health clinics because it will disrupt services to thousands of patients.
In an email to supporters they wrote: “After the closing and layoffs, there will be a sizable reduction in Spanish speaking services available. This reduction will leave the entire north side of the city without any Spanish speaking services available.”
The Mental Health movement has been very active and well organized. Aside from holding town halls, public hearings and press conferences they’ve also organized direct actions such as singing altered Christmas Carols, staging a sit-in outside Mayor Emanuel’s office in City Hall and mic-checking Rahm during a New Trier ceremony where he received an award (see video).
The group also criticizes the Mayor for “laying the weight of our budget woes on working families while finding ways to lighten the burden on the largest and wealthiest corporations in our City.”
A petition to both the City Council and Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, Bechara Choucair, M.D, has been started on Change.org demanding that the Mental Health Clinics be kept open. To sign the petition click here.
In the end, these cuts would save each taxpayer only $2 per year. The city would only save about $2.3 million from the budget but the affects this would have on individuals, their families and the communities they’re a part outweigh any possible benefits from these cuts.
Read this statement below taken from an interview I did with Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle on WRTE Radio Arte.
Mayor Emanuel thought he could just roll over our city’s 99 percent, especially its most vulnerable citizens, by passing a budget that closes half Chicago’s mental health clinics, privatizes all of its neighborhood health centers and cuts off other services to its poorest citizens. He thought twisting arms to get a unanimous vote would keep people from noticing that he balanced the budget on the backs of the city’s poorest communities. He thought people wouldn’t notice he’s cutting the jobs of hundreds of mostly black and Latino workers and slashing needed services in the most under-served communities while expanding benefits for rich corporations. He thought the story would be that he made tough but necessary choices.
Town Hall on Mental Health Clinics
Wednesday March 21st, 2012
7pm-9pm
Resurrection Catholic Church
3043 N. Francisco – Parish Hall
For more information contact: MentalHealthMovement@gmail.com - www.stopchicago.org – (773) 340-9598
Twitter: StopChicago
Facebook: facebook.com/SaveOurClinics
