‘We deliver hope’: How Geneva therapist’s nonprofit provides accessible mental health care

When you have talked to a person dealing with any number of difficult episodes in life, and have helped that person find a sense of calm and purpose, that’s a rewarding experience.

As a marriage and family therapist at a medical clinic for 18 years, Randy Bennett of North Aurora often felt he was experiencing those rewards when helping others at what he called a “cool” place to work.

But one aspect of his work bothered him. He wanted more clients getting a new lease on life, but the clinic eventually established patient guidelines that meant those with no insurance, or not enough, had to be turned away.

Because he and his wife, Amy, both have ministry backgrounds, Bennett called the situation “one of my frustrations” because the clinic initially let him see a few clients at a lower fee, but eventually, he couldn’t.

Bennett didn’t like that policy, but had to hold that thought until he was in a position to correct it at his own counseling practice.

The chance to put it all into practice came in 2018 when he acquired Intermission Therapies in Geneva from friends Marie and Paul Egeland, who founded the mental health agency in 2000.

Bennett had seen clients for the Egelands for years, so he knew the practice and its building, which now houses seven or eight rooms for therapy sessions at 22 Crissey Ave.

When Intermission Therapies became his agency, Bennett quickly moved to establish Second Act/Scene 2 as a nonprofit separate from Intermission Therapies to accept clients with no insurance. They would be asked to pay only a $20 copay per session.

Second Act/Scene 2 has provided extra fuel to Bennett’s passion for the counseling work he has now done for 40 years, saying, “What keeps me going is seeing lives transformed.”

Wife Amy Bennett joined the team as Community Engagement Director to plan events, communicate with sponsors, seek donations and write grants.

It has all led to many instances of life transformation for clients, so much so that Randy notes, “We do miracles around here, and that is not hyperbole.”

Of the many stories Randy could share, one stands out — about a woman who faced considerable trauma in her life but has rebounded to have success in work and a loving relationship.

This woman was sexually assaulted twice, once as a teen at her high school prom and again as a college student. Later, she was held up at gunpoint when in Chicago and also suffered from a bad car accident. She was suicidal at that point from this series of traumas, and her mother reached out to Scene 2 to seek therapy for her.

“I marvel at that woman, and I see her every week,” Randy said. “I cannot believe how healthy she is. She is a miracle, and I am grateful to have played a part in her being a miracle.

“When I first met her, she was a broken little girl, and now she is in a healthy relationship and works as a model,” he added. “She couldn’t keep her life together enough to keep a job that would give her health insurance, so she was working in restaurants with no health insurance, but contacted me to talk to her.”

Such success stories make it all the more important that Intermission Therapies, now in its 25th year, and Second Act/Scene 2 continue to provide services. In the past year, Scene 2 counselors saw 233 clients, 14 of which were new. Total clinical sessions reached 725.

For a practice with only three counselors, that calls for a sensitive balancing act, one Randy points out through a photo at his agency.

“It’s a photo of a three-legged stool, with each leg representing what we need,” he said. “We have to have the funding; we have to have the clients; and third, we have to have the clinicians. So, we are constantly trying to balance that stool.”

The funding part comes under Amy’s job description and she is grateful for the two signature events the agency holds with the help of sponsors.

“Our events have the word ‘hope’ in it because we deliver hope here,” Amy said.

One event is a Health and Hope 5K at LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles, with Dick Pond Athletics as sponsor. It’s always held in May as part of Mental Health Awareness Month.

The other, held in the fall, is Spokes for Hope, a bicycle event along the Fox River Trail sponsored through Mill Race Cyclery.

Individual donations are vital as well. Those interested in helping the Second Act/Scene 2 mission, or to become a part of the nonprofit’s board, can contact Amy Bennett at (630) 232-7770 or via e-mail, officeadministrator@intermissiontherapies.com.

“We can treat those who have been physically abused or suffering a drug addiction,” Randy noted. “We are trained for trauma and don’t want to turn people away.

“We don’t prescribe meds and we refer to other places when we need to,” he added. “For example, we don’t have an eating disorder expert on staff.”

In that regard, Bennett doesn’t see his agency’s role as some type of competitor for an established agency like TriCity Family Services.

“We think they do a great job at TriCity Family Services, and we try to supplement what they do,” Bennett explained.

One plus for Second Act/Scene 2 is it currently doesn’t have a waiting list, while focusing service mostly on the Tri-Cities region of the Fox Valley, though some clients come from West Chicago, Elburn or Montgomery.

“We are fortunate to have a team that has a broad range of clinical skills and training,” Randy noted.

All of the clinicians are “trauma-informed” and trained in the most current family therapy systems, he added.

It’s all there to produce more miracles. Just the way the Bennetts want it.

Following his moral compass

“If just being a good guy would help land the top volunteer award from TriCity Family Services, Loy Williams of Geneva would win without doing much of anything else.”

That was the first paragraph of a story I wrote about Williams in late 2019 after he was named winner of the Barth Award, an annual recognition from TriCity Family Services for the area’s most outstanding volunteers.

The honor recognized all sorts of volunteer efforts for which Williams focused on the welfare of others, especially children.

It came into focus again last week when hearing about Williams’ unexpected passing at age 83 after complications from pneumonia.

Williams was one of the nicest fellows I have ever had the pleasure to speak to. His background, especially as a college student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas in the mid 1960s, stuck with me.

I believe it is safe to assume that he was the only Tri-Cities person I have known who requested a meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King in 1965 — and got the meeting.

He did it around the time he was in Selma, Alabama, following King’s march through what would ultimately become Bloody Sunday. Williams had helped raise money to rent some Greyhound buses to take SMU students and faculty to Montgomery.

Months after the Montgomery march and violence, Williams said he “got the courage up” to call the university president and request a meeting with Dr. King. He got both to agree to that meeting.

Williams’ moral compass, compassion for all people, and his true understanding of what was right and wrong at such a young age, carried on through his life — and spilled over to many others.

Fewer toothaches here

There’s a good chance most of us don’t have problems with our teeth.

A recent WalletHub study places Illinois as No. 1 of states with the best dental health.

If you know anyone in Arkansas, it’s possible they may have a toothache. That state rated last in dental health.

So, what does this mean, other than your local dentist is likely very good at his or her practice? It means Illinois had the lowest share of adults “with poor or fair oral condition.”

To come to these conclusions, WalletHub analysts said they compared 50 states and the District of Columbia across 25 metrics, producing data that noted the share of adolescents who visited a dentist in the past year, to dental treatment costs, to dentists per capita.

That last part is important, as the Center for Disease Control has reported that 35% of adults across the country go a year or more without seeing a dentist because they can’t afford it.

The survey reports that Illinois had a good boost to the top spot because of a high percentage of residents with access to fluoridated water and the availability of extensive dental benefits.

• dheun@sbcglobal.net