HR0397 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0397 LRB094 12216 HSS 45783 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Mental Health Association of Macon County, Inc., (MHA) will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Wednesday, May 11, 2005; and

WHEREAS, A group first met in 1955 to discuss the organization of a citizen's committee to promote the establishment of a Mental Health Society in Decatur; and

WHEREAS, In 1960, the Mental Health Bond Issue for $150,000,000 passed under the leadership of the MHA; the following year the MHA led the drive to obtain funding for the site of a mental health hospital, and the Adolph Meyer Zone Center was opened in 1965; and

WHEREAS, The 1960s was a decade of firsts for the MHA; during that decade, the organization initiated its first junior volunteers, the first Bell Ringer Campaign, the first Cotillion, the first Scholarship Program, and activated an adult service program; MHA became a part of the United Way and continued to be the only public citizens' group not affiliated with the government that could mobilize citizens in educational and advocacy efforts on behalf of mental health; and

WHEREAS, In the 1970s, the Drug Abuse Advisory Council was organized under the direction of the MHA, and in the 1980s, MHA began to address crisis management and suicide prevention; and

WHEREAS, Several programs were developed and implemented during the 1990s; the "Little Bear" sexual abuse prevention program was introduced in primary grade classrooms; teams began actively responding to the deaths of children in Macon County schools; MHA began participating in National Depression Screening Day by providing free, anonymous, and confidential screenings for citizens of Decatur and Macon County; and the organization began to address school violence issues and organized a multidisciplinary task force to deal with threats of violence within schools; and

WHEREAS, During the 21st century, the organization continues to participate in or sponsor many other important programs and is committed to promoting mental health, preventing mental illness, and improving the care and treatment of persons suffering with mental illnesses; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the Mental Health Association of Macon County, Inc., on the occasion of its 50th anniversary; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the MHA as an expression of our respect and esteem.