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player ready...Tinley Park accepting Irish Parade entries
Tinley Park is now accepting entry forms for groups that want to take part in the 23rd annual Irish Parade, which steps off at 1 p.m. March 5, from Central Middle School north down Oak Park Avenue to 172nd Street.
Businesses, nonprofits and other organizations are invited to participate! The cost is $20 for veterans, schools and nonprofit groups; $50 for Tinley Park businesses; $100 for non-Tinley Park businesses and political groups; and $200 for unions and large corporations.
Participation is on a first-come, first-served basis, and no entries will be accepted after the maximum number of entries are met. Applications are due by Feb. 17.
More information is at TinleyPark.org/SpecialEvents.
NAMI Metro Suburban, BEDS Plus Care open in Summit
NAMI Metro Suburban and BEDS Plus Care officially expanded health services in the southwest suburbs when officials cut the ribbon last month on a new facility that is expected to open to the public by Feb. 1.
The new health center is a partnership among the village of Summit, the National Alliance on Mental Illness Metro Suburban (NAMI Metro Suburban) and BEDS Plus Care.
The new Summit center at 7602 W. 63rd Street will focus on expanding mental and physical health care services in the area of Summit and Justice.
The Summit facility is named after Linda Sokal Francis, whose donations helped establish the new care center.
The Linda Sokol Francis Summit Service Center is in a former bank that will provide interim housing for homeless individuals as they heal from medical ailments and an employment program to help both adults and transitional youth (ages 18-24) living with a mental health diagnosis. NAMI Employment Specialists work one-on-one with individuals to design a career plan focused on personal goals with a balance between vocational pursuits and mental health recovery aims.
The Summit location has a bilingual staff and offers support to help individuals achieve steady, meaningful employment in competitive jobs.
The center is the first medical respite center in Southwest Cook County. Medical respite care, also called recuperative care, is for people experiencing homelessness who are too vulnerable to recover from a physical illness or injury on the streets, but do not quality for further hospitalization, rehabilitation services, or nursing home care. Priority of care will be given to patients discharged from partner hospitals.
The center has semiprivate rooms, congregate meals, shower and laundering facilities, and medical care spaces operated by health partners AdventHealth and Pillars Community Health.
Other services offered, by appointment, will be: rental assistance, with proof of hardship, to prevent eviction, connection to supportive housing programs, and options beyond this facility for nighttime shelter.
Record year for cannabis sales
Legalized cannabis sales continued to set sales records in all categories in 2022.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation said sales records includes number of items sold, sales totals to Illinois and out-of-state residents, and sales total by month.
For the year, Illinois adult use cannabis dispensaries sold $1,552,324,820.37 worth of product, an increase of more than 12% from 2021 and 131% from 2020, the first year cannabis sales were first legally allowed in Illinois.
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There are currently 113 adult use cannabis dispensaries in Illinois, including the first three social equity dispensaries that opened their doors in 2022. These figures do not include taxes collected, which are reported by the Illinois Department of Revenue.
Bob Bong is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].