Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant has announced the appointment of seven members to serve on the newly made Will County Neighborhood Mental Overall health Board. The appointments had been authorized by the Will County Board.

The board was authorized by Will County voters by referendum in the 2022 Common Election. It will be tasked with evaluating the community’s mental well being wants, making targeted neighborhood help and coordinating a extensive program of solutions to assistance with mental well being difficulties, intellectual and developmental disabilities, as nicely as substance abuse difficulties.

The seven members appointed to the Will County Neighborhood Mental Overall health Board are:

• Elnalyn Costa of Bolingbrook has been appointed to a two-year term. She is the Will County Board member representing District 11 and is a Fund Administrator for the SEIU Healthcare Illinois Advantage Fund.

• Orlando DeYoung of Plainfield has been appointed to a two-year term. He is a neighborhood mental well being advocate with a passion for connecting young neighborhood members with mental well being solutions.

• Michael Flanagan of Green Garden Township has been appointed to a 4-year term. He is a retired firefighter with years of expertise with giving peer help for firefighters, police officers, and military veterans. His civic involvement incorporates the Illinois Firefighter Peer Assistance Group, one hundred Club of Illinois, National Association of Down Syndrome and the Will County Historic Preservation Commission.

• Katrina Jones of University Park has been appointed to a 3-year term. She is a nurse with 22 years of expertise in the health-related field and has received a variety of specialized mental well being coaching in the course of her profession. She was appointed with the recommendation of County Board Chair Judy Ogalla.

• Terri King of Plainfield has been appointed to a 4-year term. She is a retired Will County employee and has more than 20 years of expertise as a mental well being advocate. Her neighborhood involvement incorporates serving for 15 years as a Board Member for NAMI Will Grundy and as a help groups facilitator for Household to Household.

• Jessica Parks of Bolingbrook has been appointed to a 4-year term. She is a practicing LCSW who has direct expertise with mental healthcare in a range of settings, like neighborhood mental well being, substance use disorder remedy and federal probation counseling. She is the owner of Rooted Counseling LLC and serves in leadership roles on the Bolingbrook Pride Board and Will County Pride Coalition Board.

• Ashley Searing of Joliet has been appointed to a 3-year term. She is a Neighborhood Mental Overall health Awareness Advocate who serves as a Paraprofessional with Joliet District 86. She also founded RejuveNate Plants &amp Wellness to raise awareness of Mental Overall health and Suicide Prevention.

Beneath the suggestions of the State of Illinois Neighborhood Mental Overall health Act, the newly appointed mental well being board members will now hold a meeting prior to July 1 in order to elect its officers and establish governing guidelines and regulations. The board members will then be tasked with outlining a proposed price range and levy, which will by voted on by the Will County Board.