Finding hope in Joliet Junior College program

Joy Fink, 15, of Minooka, openly discusses her battles with anxiety, depression, cutting, suicide attempts — as well as mourning the death of one relative who did commit suicide — bullying, low self-esteem and obesity.

Don’t mistake Fink’s candor with teenage angst. As a junior member of Will Find Hope, the anti-stigma group at Joliet Junior College, Fink has a mission: To create a climate where all young people feel wanted and accepted, no matter what.

“I don’t want other teenagers going through what I’ve gone through. I want them to get help,” Fink said. “It may be scary at first to talk to someone but it’s better than losing your life.”

Participating in this project is a requirement for any student enrolled in classes taught by Margot Underwood, associate professor at JJC’s social & behavioral sciences department, Underwood said.

Fink’s mother, Ginni Demko of Minooka, a psychology major at Lewis University in Romeoville, learned of Will Find Hope when she was the secretary of the psychology club when she was a JJC student.

“Joy was going through such a hard time and Margot offered to help her,” said Demko, who designed the Will Find Hope T-shirts. “She thought Joy had great leadership abilities and enthusiasm for anything she put her fingers on. So when Will Find Hope came about, she told Joy, ‘You’re the head of our junior department.’”

Some students have their own stories of being stigmatized, Underwood said, and weave their personal experiences into their projects. Others aim at increasing education, building awareness and eliminating social isolation for people with mental health disorders.

Will Find Hope grew out of a community needs assessment and strategic health plan that all health departments in Illinois are required to complete every five years, said Vanessa Newsome, program coordinator at the Will County Health Department.

Through surveys and focus groups, the health department discovered that the community didn’t believe behavioral health services existed in Will County, Newsome said.

In reality, those services are not only available, many people don’t seek them out because of the stigma attached to mental illness.

As a follow up, an action team was formed to help understand the experience of stigma and how to address it so individuals needing help may find it, Newsome said. Eventually, the JJC psychology club became involved and formed Will Find Hope, which has since sponsored two Anti-Stigma Symposiums, one each in 2012 and 2013.

Anita Young, senior communications specialist at Chestnut Health Systems and co-chair of the action team, worked with Underwood to foster the students’ involvement, Newsome said, and that includes creating a comprehensive website of resources and compelling, student produced videos, Newsome said.

“I used a video on bullying with a preteen youth group at my church,” Newsome said. “It held their attention and they wanted to talk about it what happened in the video because of the youth focus. That’s the beauty of this project. It’s student driven.”

Allyson Schwartz, 20, of Joliet, Will Find Hope’s current president, knows the pain bullying victims endure. When Schwartz was in junior high, her former best friend bullied Schwartz because both girls liked the same boy. The bullying followed Schwartz into high school.

“I felt very betrayed,” Schwartz said. “One girl kept taking my lunch money. I would fake symptoms of being sick just to avoid going to school.”

The experience forced Schwartz to develop newer and more enduring friendships than the ones bullying destroyed. As part of Will Find Hope, Schwartz helped coordinate a float for the Shorewood Crossroads Festival parade, where 20 students distributed anti-stigma information. People need to understand the definition and effects of “stigma,” she said.

“That’s a lot to accomplish,” Schwartz said, “but we have a great team that stands for the same things.”