As scores of balloons flew into the sky from the entrance to the new Community Resource Healing Center in Waukegan, site coordinator the Rev. Deric Caples, an associate pastor of Jesus Name Apostolic Church, said it symbolized the release of trauma.
Caples said a major focus of the healing center is helping people recognize and deal with trauma in their lives, whether it happened to them recently or in their past and is surfacing.
“The balloon launch is releasing the trauma from the community,” he said. “We need to release it, because we now the trauma is here.”
The Community Resource Healing Center opened Saturday in downtown Waukegan with a mission to reach out to the community to find people impacted by trauma, and help them deal with it to live a more peaceful and productive life.
With the center now open, Caples said he and others affiliated with it will not sit there waiting for individuals to walk through the door. It will be about community outreach, so people know where to go for emotional healing.
“We’ll get out in the community and raise awareness of what we do,” Caples said. “We want people to know where we are and what we do, so they come through our door when they experience trauma. It can be gun violence, sexual violence, any type of trauma.”
Trauma can be experienced at any time in a person’s life. It can manifest itself immediately, or not for years. The Rev. Tiffany Peppers, the senior pastor at Jesus Name Apostolic Church, said a childhood scar can fester in an adult.
“You can have something happen to a kid, and they wait until they’re an adult to express it,” Peppers said. “We want to show the person there is life after whatever you’ve been through.”
Part of the Live Free Illinois network, the new center in Waukegan is the 12th in the state and the first in Lake County. Six are located in Chicago, and the others are in Peoria, Champaign, Chicago Heights, Rockford and Springfield.
The Rev. Cierra Bates-Chamberlain, the executive director of Live Free Illinois, said the organization provides free access to case management, counseling and community, to build relationships and trust, while raising awareness of the importance of trauma care.
“We are a faith-based organization dealing with issues impacting the Black community, located at the intersection of public safety and criminal justice reform,” Bates-Chamberlain said.
Situated inside Jesus Name Apostolic Church, Caples said the church not only houses the center, but is a subcontractor of Live Free, managing the organization’s program and budget. There will be counselors available on-site.
Located in the Lawndale, Austin, Morgan Park, East Garfield, Humboldt Park and Englewood neighborhoods of Chicago, the Rev. Robert Biekman, Live Free Illinois’ program manager for the statewide network, said it is no mistake those are the six parts of the city with the most gun deaths.
“We want to give people the space to heal from trauma,” Biekman said. “We’re going to walk the talk, and provide people with the resources they need.”
Waukegan police receive reports of shots fired about two times a day, according to statistics from the police department.
State Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, who spoke at the grand opening, said offering healing and combating gun violence in an organization affiliated with Black churches is appropriate.
“Historically, the church has operated as one of the original community healing hubs,” Johnson said “The Black church, specifically, has been a place where African Americans and other community members seek emotional refuge from the stressful vicissitudes of life.”
State Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Gurnee, whose office is a less than block from the center, said the center is a welcome addition to the community and will meet an important need.
“It will help families and decrease gun violence,” Mayfield said. “Being affiliated with the church, it will offer a healing atmosphere.”
