Haymarket still waiting for a fair hearing

The Daily Herald said in a June 20 editorial that Haymarket deserves a "fair hearing" for its proposed addiction treatment center in Itasca. We are still waiting for that opportunity.

My son Steve and I were prepared to speak in support of the project at the Sept. 18 meeting, but it was postponed. Now, the Oct. 2 rescheduled date has been canceled. For those of us who have had children die of an overdose, these delays are beyond disheartening. We need to act with urgency to address the problem of addiction that is affecting our community.

The DuPage County area, though resource rich, is lacking in the kinds of intensive and multifaceted treatment programs proposed by Haymarket. Sadly, when my son Matt was in need of treatment, the only appropriate programs were well out of our community, in some cases out of state. There was always a lack of continuity of care when it came time to transition back to our community, because these more-remote programs lacked familiarity with local services.

The transition back to community is well known to be a critical and risky time in the recovery process, and this was a very frightening time for us. While it is too late for us, the proposed Haymarket program provides an opportunity for quality intensive treatment locally, combined with well-coordinated transition to the local continuum of care.

Haymarket is not the real problem for Itasca or for any of our local communities. The real problem is addiction, which is insidious and destructive.

Let's take Itasca's emotion and energy and spread it across the county. Itasca has the opportunity to be a leader. Together we can plant our flag, and with determination and collaboration we can begin to turn the tide in this war. Support Haymarket.

Roger Stefani

Willowbrook