VENDOR SPOTLIGHT
FAMILY COUNSELING CENTER: SERVING ILLINOIS’ SOUTHERNMOST COUNTIES
When concerns about the spread of COVID-19 began to take root in deep southern Illinois in March, Sherrie Crabb and the staff at the Family Counseling Center in Cairo knew they would face steeper hurdles than many of their human service counterparts in other parts of the state.
For one thing, the digital divide is more of a gulf in the rural, sparsely populated southern seven counties of Illinois. Many of the center’s clients and employees do not have cell service or internet access at home, making telehealth visits, remote work, and instant access to information nearly impossible.
Secondly, access to cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment like gloves and masks became a real challenge. Most communities in far southern Illinois are served by little more than a Dollar General store, and there are just two Walgreens and one Walmart in the region.
“We’re a keystone to our community really, and luckily we have a lot of champions who were willing to help us out.” — Sherrie Crabb, Family Counseling Center
So the team at the Family Counseling Center did what they do best: they got creative.
“We pretty much worked with anybody and everybody we could to get equipment to us,” said Crabb, executive director of the center, which serves more than 2,200 clients and employs more than 200 people.
“The Dollar General manager would say, ‘We have a truck coming at 7 o’clock. We can’t set things aside for you, but if you can be here, we can give it to you before it goes on the shelf.’ That’s what we had to do. When you work in a rural community, you learn to get very innovative quickly.”
Local face mask drives helped ensure staff and clients had face coverings to help stop the spread of the deadly virus — which was especially important because the center had to carefully continue providing vital services, such as 24-hour crisis care, on site.
“We’re a keystone to our community really, and luckily we have a lot of champions who were willing to help us out,” Crabb said.
CENTER HAS DEEP ROOTS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
The Family Counseling Center, established in 1974, offers 31 programs, including behavioral health, such as adult and youth crisis intervention and substance abuse services; developmental services, including therapy and workforce training; and nine residential facilities, including supportive living for seniors at Autumn Ridge, a 46-apartment complex.
The programs are badly needed in an area that is aging and losing population, and where unemployment, substance abuse, domestic problems, and a sense of hopelessness can converge to put families in real crisis at any time of the day or night.
COVID-19 has highlighted the problems. Since March, the center has seen an increase in requests for help with basic needs — things like food, diapers, gas cards, and cleaning supplies.
“I think that’s what happens in any traumatic situation where there’s a shift in your life. People have to have those basic needs met first,” Crabb said. “A large portion of our work is behavioral health, but we can’t help with that unless we get those basic needs met.”
The center received funding from the state’s COVID-19 Response Fund for nonprofit organizations that help people who have been hardest hit by the pandemic. The center is using the resource to purchase supplies and equipment as needed. The funding also enabled it to offer a hero bonus to employees, who have been working under stressful conditions.
CONCERNS MANY AS COVID-19 SPREAD CONTINUES
Crabb said her concerns for the region are numerous as the virus continues to spread and scientists work to develop a vaccine.
The center is looking at ways it can support families when and if children are sent back to school in the fall. Decisions about the school year have real implications for working parents and for child care, which is difficult to come by in far southern Illinois.
She also worries about the dramatic 57% decrease in child abuse reports to the state hotline and in calls to the Family Counseling Center’s crisis hotline during the pandemic. Crabb said the decrease likely stems from fewer encounters between families and teachers, doctors, and other mandatory reporters. People who are isolated at home simply aren’t reaching out for help the way they would have under more normal circumstances.
And she is concerned about access to COVID-19 testing. People in the region may have to travel a long distance to get a test if they have symptoms, which can be difficult if they lack transportation.
“I have a concern that maybe we’ll see our (infection) numbers go up,” she said. “I just think the ability to have some kind of mobile testing unit that goes from town to town, even the smallest towns, that sets up and offers that access point is imperative in a rural environment.” ■
