The members of the Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Du Page County (AMI) weren’t just fiddling around when they said they wanted to raise $40,000 for their cause.
The group accomplished that goal last weekend when they hosted their second annual evening at the theater benefit. For a few hours, guests were transported to the tiny Russian town of Anatevka, where the musical “Fiddler on the Roof” takes place.
Before that imaginary journey began, however, they enjoyed an elegant dinner at the Drury Lane Dinner Theatre and tried their luck in a raffle for cash prizes of up to $1,000.
It was apparently not a hard sell for Linda DeWitte of Naperville to convince guests to buy the raffle tickets.
“I didn’t have to do anything. I was just standing around looking good,” she said with a smile.
DeWitte serves on the board of the non-profit organization. Jerry Ercolino of Naperville is president of the group. He said the money raised will go to provide community-based housing for the mentally ill.
The group recently purchased a home in Glen Ellyn and expects eight clients to move in by April 1. Ercolino’s son Mark lives in a similar group home that is operated by the county.
“I like the food and the companionship,” said Mark in describing the Westmont Longterm Group Home. Due to a lack of state funding for such housing, many of the mentally ill must live away from family and friends, said Charles Jardine of Naperville, who chaired the event.
“These people are presently living in nursing homes outside of Du Page County,” said Jardine. “These are people like you and me. They need to be able to mingle with the community.”
Besides its long-term goal of providing housing for the mentally ill, the organization works day-to-day as an advocate for the mentally ill and to help change biased attitudes toward them.
“It’s educational and it gives an understanding of the things the mentally ill face in society,” said DeWitte.
