Helping People Feel Good, Do Better & Find Solutions

The speaker at our July 24, 2008 lunch meeting was Mary Drabik, Director of Vocational Services for the Kenneth Young Center. The Kenneth Young Center is the community mental health center for Schaumburg and Elk Grove Townships, and its mission is to “help people feel good, do better and find solutions.” The Center was started in 1970, and Ms. Drabik has been at the Center for 19 years. The Center serves approximately 8,000 children, adolescent, adult and senior clients every year, all of whom have been diagnosed with a mental illness. In addition to clients that have been diagnosed with a mental illness, the Center also assists the families and caregivers of clients.

Due to the pervasive nature of mental illness (patients with mental illness fill more hospital beds than any other illness), the Center has more referrals than it can handle. However, the Center is achieving greater levels of success because mental illness is becoming more and more treatable with improved medications and other treatments. The ultimate goal of the Center is to assist a client to re-enter society and to return to work, school, dating, church and other regular activities. Ultimately, work is the best indicator of progress because it is measurable and it facilitates health. Due to the stigma associated with mental illness and potential huge gaps in employment, the Center will often act on a client’s behalf and contact a potential employer. The Center will also provide ongoing support of the employee on the job, and mediate when necessary between the employer and employee. For example, the Center will intervene if a client stops taking medication while on the job.

The State of Illinois has prioritized employment services and is specifically supporting people who are attempting to get off disability and back to work. However, recent state budgets have restricted funding to the Center, so Ms. Drabik was very direct in stating that she is actively looking for opportunities of any kind to obtain funding. If anyone is interested in assisting the Center in anyway, please contact her at (847)524-8800. www.kennethyoung.org.