CHICAGO — Some South and Southwest side voters have a chance to let the city know if they support running community-funded free mental health programs in their neighborhoods.
Some voters have two non-binding referendum questions on their election ballot, with the questions slightly customized depending on where people live. The first question asks if a taxpayer-funded program should be created to offer free mental health services in the Englewood and Greater Chatham area or on the Near Southwest Side.
That question also asks if neighbors would support funding the programs by raising property taxes up to .025 percent for properties within the area. As part of that, the second question asks voters if they support creating a fund of $700,000 or less for the Englewood and Greater Chatham program in next year’s tax levy, or a fund up to $1.2 million for the Near Southwest Side program.
The questions addressing the program for the Englewood and Greater Chatham area will appear for some voters in the 6th, 8th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 20th and 21st wards, while the questions addressing the program for the Near Southwest Side will appear for some voters in the 11th, 12th, 22nd, 24th and 25th wards.
The area includes West Englewood, Englewood, Auburn Gresham, Chatham, Greater Grand Crossing, Avalon Park, Pilsen, Little Village, McKinley Park, Bridgeport and Armour Square, according to organizers of the Chicago Coalition to Save Our Mental Health Centers, a nonprofit that advocates for community mental health programs.
The .025 percent tax increase amounts to $16-$24 per year for most households and about $4 for every $1,000 homeowners pay in property taxes, according to the Chicago Coalition to Save Our Mental Health Centers.
The results of the referendums will not be binding — but advocates for the proposed mental health programs could use them to try to gain more support.
For the past two years, the Coalition To Save Our Mental Health Centers has pushed to open mental health centers in these two areas.
In August, the coalition delivered over 17,000 petition signatures from registered voters to place the non-binding referendum questions on the Nov. 5 ballot. Organizers gathered over 10,900 signatures from Englewood and Greater Chatham voters and over 6,400 from Southwest Side neighbors, according to data from the coalition.
Previously, the coalition garnered community support from North Side and Northwest Side voters to open mental health centers. In 2014, the coalition opened its first clinic, the Kedzie Center.
The proposed centers would offer free mental health and community services, which are essential for South Side neighbors, community organizer Isaac Aleman said. Proposed services include student outreach, violence prevention, prevention programs and services for older people, veterans, returning citizens and domestic violence survivors.
“There’s always a need for these resources and, yet, there’s never enough of them,” Aleman said.
While the proposed mental health programs are yet to be finalized, “anyone in the community who needs services would have access,” regardless of insurance, background or immigration status, Aleman said.
In 2012, former Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed half of the city’s 12 mental health clinics — a majority of which were on the South Side — to bridge a $369 million budget gap.
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October 17, 2024 at 08:13AM
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