 |
|
For Immediate Release
Date: August 29, 2017
Contact: Hannah Goering
(847) 377-8099
|
Mental Health Wellness and Recovery
Conference held on September 14
Waukegan, Ill. – On Thursday, September
14, 2017, the Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center will
host a Mental Health Wellness and Recovery Conference at the Greenbelt Cultural
Center, 1215 Green Bay Road, North Chicago. The event will be held from 9:00 a.m.
to 3:30 p.m.
“This event will offer a shared, safe space for
consumers in recovery to support each other,” said Dorese McCullough,
coordinator for the health department’s New Life Recovery Center. “By sharing recovery
stories and bringing together those in recovery and their supporters, we hope
to renew people’s commitment to the recovery process.”
The conference theme, chosen by consumers at the
health department’s New Hope Recovery Center, is “Semicolon; ‘It’s not over!’”
The semicolon represents support for those who struggle with mental illness,
addiction, self-harm and suicide. It represents the choice to continue life,
because it is used when an author could have ended their sentence but chose not
to.
The conference will feature keynote speaker Dr. Mary Roberson
Ed. D, LCPC, CSADC, Social Services Supervisor at the Lake County Veteran and
Family Services Foundation, as well as George Moore Jr., founder of the Legacy
Re-Entry Foundation. The itinerary also includes interactive break-out sessions
and a panel discussion where peers will share their stories of recovery.
There is no cost to attend the conference, which is geared
toward consumers who are in recovery. Individuals and organizations working in
the recovery services field, such as social workers and peer support
specialists, are also encouraged to attend. Lunch will be provided for free to
consumers and at a nominal cost to non-consumers.
The registration deadline for the Recovery Conference is
Thursday, September 7, 2017. Registration forms are available on the Lake
County Health Department’s website at http://www.lakecountyil.gov/DocumentCenter/View/19603.
Completed forms can be emailed to Amy MacDonald-Wojcik at AMacdonaldWojcik@lakecountyil.gov.
About the program
The Lake County Health Department and Community Health
Center’s Williams Consent Decree program enables qualifying consumers with
mental illness to be moved from state-funded facilities into communities where
they can live independently with professional support. Individuals in the
program receive daily case management, on-site psychiatric care and medication
management. The health department also operates the New Life Recovery Center in
Waukegan and the New Hope Recovery Center in Zion. These consumer-run centers provide
a non-clinical environment for adults wanting to work on their recovery to
socialize, receive support from their peers, and access computers. For more
information, visit http://www.lakecountyil.gov/767/Williams-Consent-Decree.
# # #
| 
