Alliance for Healthier County Asked to Support Crisis Nursery

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Published on September 29 2015 3:42 pm
Last Updated on September 29 2015 3:42 pm
Written by Greg Sapp

A proponent of a crisis nursery spoke to the Alliance for a Healthier Effingham County Tuesday.

Meghan Rewers has worked with a similar facility in Champaign County, but has local ties as her father is area circuit judge Kevin Parker.

Rewers said the facility could work for those birth to six years old. The goal is 24-hour care, seven days a week. The hope is to have enough helpers to accommodate up to six children at a time.

Rewers said one of their chief needs is a facility. It was suggested she might want to talk with Effingham Child Development Center or the Family Life Center to insure their services would complement one another.

Alliance members heard from Mayor Jeff Bloemker, in his capacity as executive director of Heartland Human Services on the impact of the state budget battle on psychiatric services available through Heartland. Bloemker said the primary concern is a cutoff of grant funds for psychotropic drugs, which has caused Heartland to utilize reserve funds. He said the Illinois House has considered a bill that would provide funding for such services for up to four months, but expects Gov. Rauner will veto the measure if it's passed. Bloemker said all other services provided by Heartland are still operating.

Bonnie Kruse of HSHS St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital spoke about a program operating in conjunction with Catholic Charities. The program allows a dietician from the hospital to meet with food pantry clients on Mondays and Wednesdays. The dietician speaks with pantry clients on ways to make healthier meals and healthier choices as to lifestyle. Terriann Tharp, who heads the Alliance, discussed the Stroke Champion Initiative, where stroke victims and their families are assisted in recovering from strokes and in preventing future strokes.

There was also discussion of an effort to make Effingham more dementia-friendly as part of a "Silver Tsunami" effort to make the community ready for the growth in elderly residents as Baby Boomers reach their 60s and beyond.