THAT PLACE FINDS HOME IN OLD GAS STATION

ROCKFORD -- The home of a needle exchange and condom distribution
program is no longer at the north gateway of the fledgling Seventh
Street business district, but it's not that far away.

To be exact, the Total Health Awareness Team, or THAT Place, is
setting up shop in an abandoned gas station six blocks south of where
the agency tried to move in last year but was told no. The social
service program is having a dedication ceremony at 2 p.m. today at
its new 824 Seventh St. storefront.

But while today is a day of celebration for THAT staff and clients,
THAT's presence on the street is not welcome by all.

Some think THAT's street-level services to drug addicts and
prostitutes only perpetuate their dangerous and illegal lifestyles,
and that they then find their way in droves to Seventh Street because
that's where they can get supplies for free.

THAT folks, however, will say that they're on Seventh Street because
that's where their clients already are. And if THAT wasn't there, its
clients would remain but without THAT's disease prevention services
and recovery outreach.

"We really need to meet our clients where they are," said THAT
Director JBryan Latham. "That is how this works. We meet them where
they are in their lives and help bring them to a place where they are
ready to change their lives. ... I believe in the mayor's saying
'Excellence Everywhere.' We need it everywhere. Why not address these
people's problems here -- where they are -- rather than trying to
move what some people would call the undesirables to another part of town."

Latham has been in conflict with some Seventh Street business owners
and the city for the past year over where THAT can or should operate.

According to the city, THAT's new home is zoned light industrial, the
appropriate zoning classification for the agency's work.

"They are in good standing with city of Rockford," said city planning
manager Todd Cagnoni. "The use they are proposing is permissible for
the zoning of the location they've chosen at 824 S. Seventh St."

But that doesn't mean that everyone's happy.

Some neighboring businesses and Mid-Town District Association
President Bill Mohr still think that Latham's operation belongs in a
clinical setting away from rebuilding efforts.

"I don't think it adds anything to the street," Mohr said. "The
people of Seventh Street are not pleased with having that operation
on Seventh Street. ... That sort of thing attracts people on the edge
of society. It doesn't belong in a commercial business district."