Our community is still recovering from recent events, and will be for quite some time.
As longtime board members for Rosecrance Behavioral Health, we feel pride every day to be affiliated with an organization and so many people doing lifesaving work. Rosecrance served over 54,000 people last year throughout three states. That’s powerful.
And last month the Rosecrance leaders and team members again did what they do best.
Within two hours of a horrific event Mayor Tom McNamara inquired what Rosecrance could do to support a close-knit neighborhood. Rosecrance partnered with the City of Rockford, the 17th Judicial Circuit Court Volunteer Therapy Dog Program, and Rockford School District 205, and by 8 a.m. a leader, a location, and Rosecrance volunteer therapists were prepared to provide free counseling to anyone who came.
They didn’t know how many would seek help, but they knew they needed to be available for those who did. Many in the community stopped by Flinn Middle School just to see how they could help with setup, water and snacks or welcoming individuals and families.
Over two dozen licensed therapists from Rosecrance volunteered to offer care to those who were victims, family, friends, or neighbors … experiencing varying degrees of trauma.
There was no clock, no agenda, and no charge. Over the course of two days, approximately 100 people walked into that school not knowing exactly what to expect. Only knowing that they needed to talk to someone. To process their emotions. To know that someone cared and could help them start to heal.
Rosecrance therapists answer the call every day they come to work. But that inherent desire to help people through often their most difficult times is what makes them truly special. They are professionally trained in counseling for trauma and grief and loss, and this was a moment when the community needed them. So, they came.
Their compassion was sincere, as always, and they not only provided that critical moment-in-time counseling, but also the link to services for so many who will need it for some time to come. That first connection is often the most important, and it was made in that middle school gym. Where healing could begin.
During the past weeks we have heard from so many community members thanking Rosecrance for this service. We, as the local board of directors, would like to make sure we say thank you to the hundreds of Rosecrance employees for consistently answering the call to serve.
Thank you. Thank you.
Dan Pecora is the chair of the Executive Board of Rosecrance Behavioral Health. Dr. David Deutsch is chair of the Rosecrance Illinois Board.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Your turn: Rosecrance therapists providing hope and healing