Walk for the mental health of it
Rose Lester of Elk Grove Village will be walking in memory of her mother on Saturday, May 8. That's when Kenneth Young Center (KYC) will hold it's 10th annual "Walk for the Mental Health of It", a three-mile walk in Busse Woods, to support the mental health and senior services of KYC.
Twenty-five years ago Lester and another candidate were the finalists for a clerical position in KYC's day program for clients with serious mental illness. Lester's experience in understanding mental illness gave her the edge and she got the job. She's worked at KYC ever since.
When Lester was in grade school in the late 1950s, her mother struggled with anxiety. She remembers her mother becoming fearful to let her children go out into the world. Her mental suffering became so great she had what was then called a "nervous breakdown," and was committed to the state mental hospital. She was there for four years.
Lester says in those days it truly was a "warehouse" for people with mental illness. When her mother finally came home, first just for weekends, then full-time, she set to getting on with life. Lester says she was an inspiration. She trained as a secretary; she had good jobs; she volunteered; she was a "caring, tolerant, wonderful, fantastic mom."
Lester feels that if a place like Kenneth Young Center had been here for her mother, she could have had early intervention and treatment and never reached the breaking point. She could have had insurance coverage for her care. She could have recovered before losing four years away from her children.
Lester will be walking the day before Mother's Day in memory of her mother and in support of the organization where she has been employed for 25 years, helping people with mental illness to move toward recovery.
Join hundreds of others and walk three miles with the KYC on Saturday, May 8, in Busse Woods, to support the mental health and senior services. of Kennth Young Center. Register at kennethyoung.org or (847) 524-8800 ext. 156.
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