On behalf of all Haymarket Center staff and our Board of Directors, we would like to thank all of you that have spoken in support of Haymarket or submitted your support online during our Itasca Plan Commission hearings. Your words spoke volumes. Because of you, compelling reasons were provided as to why this treatment center is needed, meets zoning requirements, and will not cause an undue burden on the Village of Itasca.
For anyone who was unable to attend or watch the August 11 or August 25 hearings, we’d like to share a quote from each of the supporters who gave a comment:
“This is an opportunity to help educate our youth by real experts in the field who have decades of experience on substance abuse (and it) should be your number one priority…Haymarket’s right to come here is not about a personal feeling that anyone may have; it is about doing what is right for Itasca and the communities around you that will save lives.” – Rena Humbert, Path to Recovery
“Addiction is not a socioeconomic issue 30 miles away in Chicago. Addiction is blind. It’s an equal opportunity destroyer. It’s like a tornado; it may only kill two or three people, like in my family, but it takes down half the town with it and the community’s resources to rebuild it.”- Lisa Danna-Brennan
“Access to evidence-based treatment is an essential part of good health and recovery from substance use disorder that is plaguing our residents…Experts say that programs like Haymarket, which allow children to stay with their moms during substance use and mental health treatment, are the kind of full-spectrum rehab needed to reduce the number of babies born to mothers who, like other Americans, are increasingly struggling with drug use disorder.”
– Dr. Lanny Wilson, Vice President, DuPage County Board of Health and Co-Chair of HOPE Task Force
“2020 saw 93,000 people die in this country from overdose, the highest number in recorded history. We don’t need to be taking resources away, we need to be adding them. And I really would like to challenge the Village of Itasca to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. If not us, who? And if not now, when? 100,000 dead, is that when we take notice? 125,000 dead, is that enough? When is it enough?”- Laura Fry, Live4Lalie
“For the last 28 years, I’ve helped people get out of their addiction. I’ve helped them understand what the problem is and I’m going to have to tell you all this: We’re all in recovery. We’re all recovering from something…What if the small town of Itasca, with all that it has, actually surrounded some people who were hurting and made a decision to love them and redeem them?”- Itasca Pastor Bob Butler
“Our team currently receives more than 600 calls a month for outpatient behavioral health and substance use services. These calls come from children, adults, and families who live in and around this community. What Haymarket can offer through this facility will change lives. It is time to evolve our community’s response to recognize that mental health and substance use services provide critical health care that keeps our neighborhoods thriving.”- Lisa Hendrickson, Kenneth Young Center in Elk Grove Village
“Many people harbor unfound fears and assumptions about people with disabilities, and in particular people in recovery. These fears and assumptions prevent full integration. One common thread is that people in recovery are prone to violence, or other criminal activity. And although this is untrue, this sentiment often sparks community opposition or efforts to assist and treat this population, including efforts to operate a recovery center.”
– Emily Ronan, AIM Center for Independent Living
“When we look at this quadrant specifically of DuPage County, we do have a very high concentration of overdose, and it’s getting worse. We definitely have enough people that have a problem to justify there being a facility of this size in our county.”- Roger & Stephen Stefani, Hope for Healing Foundation
“Addiction is no longer that street corner junkie. It’s your child who injured themselves in football… it’s the wife that has one glass of wine and accidentally finishes the bottle…the husband who has the work hard, play hard attitude…Addiction is me standing in front of you today. This is a disease who does not care who you are, where you come from or how strong you think you are. It’s progressive and lifelong and denying a treatment center for us is no different than denying chemo to a cancer patient.”- Frank Lotta of Wood Dale
“There’s so many barriers to healthcare that people already face…if we can make it just a little easier, people will be much more willing and able to get the treatment they want and deserve.”- Nikita Dulin of Itasca
“Let’s get through all this red tape and save some lives. All this is doing is delaying saving lives. Please, I beg of you, to get through this red tape as soon as you can and start saving lives.” – Joe Portillo
“We must take action to curtail opioid misuse and help those who are struggling with substance use disorders to get the treatment they need to live their fullest lives.” – National Safety Council, based in Itasca
For those interested in learning more, you can read the Daily Herald story recapping the last hearing. Our next meeting will occur Wednesday, September 8th at 7 p.m. when the attorneys will make their closing statements. To learn more about Haymarket Center of DuPage, visit haymarketdupage.org.
