Thresholds Employee, Advocate Runs Marathon for Recovery The 2010 Bank of America Chicago Marathon is still nearly two months away, but this year the presenting sponsor is launching a major ad push keyed to the big event earlier than usual. A campaign from BBDO/New York with the theme "10-10-10: The Date to Motivate" kicks off Wednesday. All those "10s" are in the theme line for a reason: The 2010 marathon will be run Oct. 10.
Not coincidentally, the focus of the primarily print and out-of-home ad campaign will be exactly 10 Chicago area layman athletes who are running the race and, in the process, giving back to the community in some fashion. [One] motivated Chicago athlete featured in the ad campaign is Vanessa Vorhies, who is running the marathon on behalf of Thresholds, an Illinois organization that provides services to people with mental illnesses. Read the entire article in the Chicago Sun-Times.
Photo: Vanessa Vorhies (far right) is pictured on a painted mural on a building off I-90/94 near downtown Chicago.
Protest to Goveror Quinn
Governor, could we have a few words with you?
"What do we want?" "Community services!"
"When do we want them?" "Now!"
People with disabilities of all kinds - physical, developmental, and mental health - gathered at the Thompson Center in Chicago on Monday, July 19th to protest the State's human services budget cuts that threaten to eliminate essential community services that many of them rely on.
Rally speakers voiced their concerns about a wide range of supports and services they could lose under the new budget. Some worried they would be unable to get out of bed in the morning if they lost valuable personal care services. Others feared they would be home-bound because they could no longer afford to pay for wheelchair repairs. Mental health consumers envisioned ending up back in nursing homes, in jail or living on the streets.
Budget cuts affecting people with disabilities have been going on for decades in Illinois and the hole in their safety net is getting devastatingly large. At the same time, Illinois, unlike other states, continues to put money into institutional care when this has proven to be more costly and less effective than community supports and services. Protesters did not hold back in their criticism of state legislators for abdicating their responsibility and running away until election time. Stated one disability advocate, "If they want our votes, they need to listen to our voice."
At the close of the rally, the Governor's Chief Operating Officer, Jack Lavin, and Senior Advisor on Health Policy, Michael Gelder, accepted a letter from protesters and said they would follow up with the Governor on a request for a meeting. If the meeting takes place, it may be short and consisting of just a few words: "Community services - now!"
Critical Need to House Mentally Ill
From "The Daily Herald" Chances are you know someone with a serious mental illness. Chances are even greater that someone with a mental illness lives near you. One person in 17 - about 6 percent of the population - has a serious mental illness such as depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. They are our relatives, friends, children, neighbors. Read more here.
Theatre Arts
The Theatre Arts Program will present its 2010 show "I Can Hear You With My Heart" in Woodstock as part of the city's month-long recognition of mental health month on Saturday, May 15 at 8 p.m. at the Woodstock Opera House. For more information about the show, including dates for Chicago performances at The Theatre Building, click here.
Mental Health Rally
More than 600 people attended a May 5 rally in downtown Chicago protesting impending state budget cuts to mental health services. At least 300 people from Thresholds - members, staff and other friends of mental health - took part in the rally with signs saying "Don't put a straightjacket on mental health funding." Visit our Twitter page for tweets with pictures about the event.
The Thresholds of Recovery
David Stowell's eyes welled up when he spoke about that time-a two-year period between 1983 and 1985 when he said his life "went to chaos."
He reluctantly spoke of that chaos, referring to it only as a set of "catastrophic episodes," during which he dropped out of Illinois State University, quit computer programming, plunged drastically into debt and generally neglected all forms of responsibility, all while battling bouts of deep depression that came and went at a feverish pace.
In Joliet, at a mental health center, he found the cause: bipolar disorder. And though he's spent 20 years battling his illness, it wasn't until the last year that he's truly found happiness: when he walked through the doors of Thresholds Transitions. Click hereto read the rest of this article at the Tribune Local's Web site.
Alison Flowers and Fred Friedman
Documentarian Alison Flowers has completed this piece about Board Member Fred Friedman. In her own words, "he lost everything that mattered to him: his wife, his home and his law practice. Fred's story of loss and recovery represents what many people with mental illness experience in Illinois. But more importantly, Fred demonstrates how the power of these people may be the state’s only salvation."
Thresholds has never been a more important resource. Watch this inspiring video to hear more about our programs, services and recovery stories. Watch Video
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