Metro Supports Mental Health at 4/1 Budget Hearing

“The face of mental health could be anyone in this room,” said Jacqueline Bradford, a client in Metropolitan Family Services’ Adult Mental Health Program at the Southeast Chicago Center, in speaking at an Illinois state budget hearing held Wed., April 1 in Chicago. Jacqueline explained how she recovered from depression with Metropolitan’s help. She was among several people who shared their “stories of recovery” with Illinois state representatives to help them understand why mental health funding is essential. Click here to learn more about Jacqueline’s story.

Metropolitan was one of more than 30 organizations who participated in the standing-room only event, which featured numerous areas including substance abuse and mental health, developmental disabilities and rehabilitation services, health and family issues, special needs, HIV and breast cancer, and children’s services.

This was the second legislative hearing in which Metropolitan has participated, the first one focusing on youth programs and Teen Reach. The goal is to help raise support for human services funding in light of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed budget cuts, which would have a drastic impact on mental health and all human services throughout the state.

The hearing was covered by media including NBC5 Chicago, WGN-TV, the Daily Southtown, Hoy and Univision. We at Metropolitan also featured it on our Facebook and Twitter pages (see posts and tweets from 4/1).