By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The new Community Healing Center taking residence at the Boys & Girls Club – Stenstrom Unit is, on paper, a place to provide youth who have been exposed to any type of trauma with wrap-around services.
For Mayor Tom McNamara, it’s more simply described as a way to prevent crime in the future by helping children heal now.
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City data shows that 60-70% of youth arrested for violent crime over the past five years have lived in a household where they were exposed to physical or sexual violence, McNamara said. The goal for the Community Healing Center, one of several city initiatives designed to support youth who have experienced trauma, is to make sure children receive the support they need after experiencing violence so that the cycle doesn’t repeat.
“We know that the number one thing so that we can stop the cycle of violence that’s plagued our city is that we, as an entire community, wrap our arms around these young people,” McNamara said. “This is not going to turn crime around tomorrow. We have other initiatives that are doing that in our portfolio. This is a long-term strategy that is crime prevention, but also hope building.”
McNamara joined staff at the Boys & Girls Club, 609 Kilburn Ave., and other city officials with the Mayor’s Office of Domestic and Community Violence Prevention on Thursday to announce the opening of the center.
You can think of it as a youth-centric version of the Family Peace Center, a one-stop location at 315 N. Main St. for survivors of domestic and sexual violence to access services.
The Community Healing Center differs because its services are open to youth who have experienced any type of violence or traumatic event, not just sexual or domestic violence. The Family Peace Center has served approximately 1,800 people since opening in July 2020, including more than 400 children.
“We’re operating from an understanding that as a community we have been exposed to violence and trauma,” said Brandon Tillman, the city’s manager of community and domestic violence prevention. “We need to make sure that we’re interrupting that trauma to make sure that we can address violent crime.”
The center is integrated into the Boys & Girls Club, where navigators Diana Hernandez and Ivy Wallace can build connections with youth to make sure the children are comfortable talking with them when needed.
That’s why the Boys & Girls Club was a fitting location, McNamara said. The staff there has already become a trusted resource for families around that west side neighborhood. But you do not have to be a member of the Boys & Girls Club to participate in the Community Healing Center.
In addition to the services provided by Hernandez and Wallace, there are licensed therapists to provide one-on-one or group counseling. The center is run in collaboration with Youth Services Network, The Workforce Connection, city of Rockford Health and Human Services and GRO Community and the Boys & Girls Club.
“This provides these young people new opportunities, new mentors, new leadership models that allows them to be their best self,” McNamara said.
The center is funded by a nearly $1 million federal grant that fully pays for the staffing of the two navigators and the project manager for three years.
The center’s staff and the partners will provide therapeutic services, mentoring, recreation and other resources to help youth and their families. Some children may be referred to the center by other agencies, but walk-ins are also welcome as part of the city’s goal to remove barriers to accessing the services.
About | Community Healing Center
Where: Boys and Girls Club – Stenstrom Unit, 609 Kilburn Ave., Rockford
Walk-in hours: noon to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; noon to 5 p.m. Friday
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas