Renz center to dedicate pond
Community residents are invited to attend Renz Addiction Counseling Center's Serenity Garden Pond Dedication ceremony at 4 p.m. Sept. 9, in honor of the late Patricia Baker. The Rev. Allen Belanger will lead the dedication, followed by remarks by Renz Center's executive director Jerry Skogmo and prevention coordinator Angie Andrade. Refreshments will be served after the ceremony.
The Serenity Garden was initially created last year when Renz Center built a one-eighth of a mile walking path. As the garden gained in popularity, Renz Center included the pond as a part of their capital campaign to help enhance the Serenity Garden grounds. To date, the pond project has been paid for through pledges from Renz Center staff in honor of prevention program director Patricia Baker, who lost her battle with breast cancer last September.
"While Patricia only worked at Renz Center for 6 years," said Skogmo, "she had a tremendous impact on drug and alcohol prevention in our community. She was instrumental in securing a $1,000,000 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration grant for HIV/AIDS outreach; spearheaded the anti-drug mural campaign with local companies sponsoring one of the six panels representing an alternative to drugs; developed alcohol, tobacco and other drug education prevention workshops for high school students; and worked closely with the Elgin Gang and Drug Task Force."
Renz Center and Frontier Ponds of Union worked together to add the water feature to the Serenity Garden in order to provide a beautiful, peaceful setting for individual and group therapy sessions. The pond includes a custom-designed water feature with an ecologically balanced waterfall with a 35-foot-wide stream, a 12-foot-wide land bridge, leading to a 13- by 18-foot pond. Frontier Ponds' distributors Aspen Valley Landscape Supply out of Elgin, provided the pond supplies and rock, while Reinders Inc., out of Wisconsin, donated labor on the last day.
Renz Center provides a continuum of care dedicated to the prevention, intervention and treatment of addictive behaviors and disorders often associated with addition. Services range from prevention programs for youth in the schools to outpatient treatment programs for adolescents and adults. Offices are located in Elgin, St. Charles, and Streamwood, Renz services also include treatment for problem and compulsive gambling.
Renz Addiction Counseling Center is a non-profit organization funded in part by the federal government, local United Ways, The Illinois Department of Human Services, Hanover Township and St. Charles 708 boards and other local community organizations. To find out more about Renz Center's programs, call (847) 742-3545 or visit www.renzcenter.com.