Forest Park’s board of health dates back to 2002. But it has an odd history of lapsing for long, quiet stretches. But now it is back after being reconstituted by the village in 2023. A fresh batch of committee members were appointed then with the challenge of figuring out just what health-related services Forest Parkers were seeking.
Focus groups early last year — with an array of public servants from police and fire, the library and schools, the community center and a Proviso Township mental health provider — led to the conclusion that mental health and addiction recovery services were needed. But in addition to a shortage of such services, there was the not-surprising conclusion that access to the services which do exist is fragmented.
This is hardly a problem exclusive to Forest Park. But it is a frustration here. Finding a way to gather up all the relevant information into an accessible space was seen as an essential need for Forest Park.
The board of health has now taken that clear message and translated it into a community survey on mental health that it is asking residents to complete. The online survey went live in early January and will be open through March. The health board will then compile the responses and share the information with the community.
Major dollars from village hall are not available to create new mental health programs. But creating a coordinated platform, where available services are gathered and methods of access and requirements for payments are clear, would be a worthy project.
Progress on lead pipes
Joining communities across the state to cobble together a construction plan and payment plan to continue the ambitious replacement of lead water pipes across the village, Forest Park is taking multiple steps in a positive direction.
The work so far is focused on the area south of Roosevelt, where copper pipes have to be extended from the parkway into homes. Those pipes replaced the original lead pipes, which of course leach lead into drinking water. The next phase requires taking on a $3 million loan from the Illinois EPA. This is the plight of middle-income communities such as Forest Park across the state. Too many resources for an outright grant of state funds for the pipe replacement, but not the ability to self-fund the quite massive project.
Again in this circumstance, village government continues to take prudent but necessary steps to invest in this community’s infrastructure.