NEIGHBORS ADD THEIR VOICES IN DRUG CLINIC CONTROVERSY

CHAMPAIGN Since plans for a methadone clinic to treat heroin addicts
became public, many downtown merchants and nearby residents have argued
that the area is already saturated with social service organizations.

An official who leads a local mental health organization agrees, saying the
location of a social service must take into consideration the character of
an area.

"Whenever we have businesses and services and residents in one area, we
have to strike a balance among them," said Sandy Lewis, chief executive
officer of Provena Behavioral Health, which operates the Mental Health
Center and the TIMES Center. "Whether it's a methadone clinic going in
there or some other service organization ... I'd be concerned about the
fragile balance of community and services."

The downtown area where Kendric Speagle, who operates Harm Reduction
Resource, a nonprofit organization offering HIV education and prevention
services, has proposed opening a clinic, at 12 W. Washington St., already
is home to the TIMES emergency men's shelter, Prairie Center, which offers
substance abuse counseling, and the Mental Health Center.

"Locating another social service in the area seems like saying, 'This is
the destination for social services. ... The convenience of the minority of
people is more important than the large amount of law-abiding citizens,'"
said Amy Crump, who lives on State Street with her husband and three children.

Neighbors in the historic Sesquicentennial Neighborhood, just west of
downtown, say the area has changed for the better in the past several years.

"When we first moved here 18 years ago, we could not get a pizza delivered
because they wouldn't deliver in our area because the crime rate was so
high," said Bobbie Culbertson. "That has slowly but surely changed, and we
don't want to see it change back. We're finally getting to the point where
we can feel safe walking at night, walking to the park, going downtown to
shop, to the theater, to a restaurant."

Carolyn Petracca of Savoy has been renovating the house where her mother
grew up in the 500 block of West Washington Street, an area filled with
family history for Petracca.

"I want my grandkid to be able to run through the park, and if he wants to,
go downtown and get an ice cream cone or windowshop or go to the train
station," Petracca said. "All those things I used to walk to, I want to
walk to freely and not feel pressured or that I have to worry about it."

Lewis said when Provena was planning to relocate a psychiatric respite
center, it found what it thought to be the perfect location near Provena
Covenant Medical Center.

"But when we started talking to the neighbors, they were concerned about
the saturation of social services in the area," Lewis said, noting that the
Center for Women in Transition was across the street and Empty Tomb,
Matthew House and A Safe House were nearby.

"Their concern was, 'You're driving out housing for neighbors if you locate
another social service there,'" she said. "So we stepped away from that
location. I think you have the same situation here."

Lewis also said those receiving methadone treatment will have other needs
that must be met, such as affordable housing, transportation, child care
and job training.

"A program like this could begin serving the 40 people living within
Champaign County, but that doesn't mean they will always serve just those
people," Lewis said. "Has their organization considered the impact that
their service will have on the continuum of care within the community?"

Speagle said the clinic would not serve a significant number of people from
outside Champaign-Urbana, and it would offer comprehensive services to
address vocational, educational, housing and other issues. How it would
provide such services has not yet been established, but if the clinic did
not provide them, he said it would work with other social service agencies.

Several neighbors say they wish Speagle had talked with them about his
plans and sought their input, rather than learning about it after the
process was already under way.

"While it is unfortunate that some community members feel they weren't
heard at the right time, I would stress we're still in the planning stages
and any suggestions or possible remedies for those concerns I will hear
out," Speagle said.

He said he is planning an educational symposium and community forum for April 5.