A Mental Health patient has chained himself to the doors of the Roseland Clinic which Rahm Emanuel is closing and privatizing. Police are on the scene and arrests are imminent. Protestors are blocking the doors of the clinic demanding the City keep the clinic open and public.
The closure and privatization of the Roseland Clinic comes four years after Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) closed six public mental health clinics despite warnings of dire consequences for the city and the thousands of people affected. The announcement came without any public input or hearings to learn how the people being served feel about being forced to travel a far distance if they choose to continue with their therapist, as the city’s plan would displace all current Roseland therapists.
Roseland is one of Chicago’s largest and most under-served wards. There is a desperate need in this community for more resources such as more public mental health clinics; jobs and schools. This community has witnessed more than 200 shootings and murders in 2016 alone.
“The Mayor and CDPH would better serve the community by providing resources that would heal the community and create a more stable living environment for the residents. Why do the lives of the less fortunate mean so little to the Mayor Emanuel and CDPH?” said N’Dana Carter, organizer for the Mental Health Movement.
The CDPH and Rahm have given the Roseland Mental Health Clinic to C4 mental health center which because of their own mismanagement were bankrupted and almost closed in 2015. C4 was rescued by the County which is why they continue to operate.
The Mental Health Movement is demanding that the Chicago Department of Public Health conducts a public hearing to learn want the community wants and how they feel so they will know how the community feels about losing an important safety net.
