Facilities geared towards substance abuse recovery and mental health assistance are reopening in Illinois under the phase-4 guidelines from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The DeWitt County Substance Abuse Coalition Thursday morning on the WHOW Morning Show highlighted some of the services that are returning and how folks can get help. Vice President of the Coalition Paul Skowron indicates the coalition works to get people in the community in touch with these providers and it is good that many are starting to reopen their services.

According to Skowron, there has been a crossover between mental health and substance abuse and he explains there are many local providers that continue the increasingly popular telehealth options but they are also starting to welcome patients back.

Pastor Jeff DeLaughter is the President of the Coalition and has taken an active role to get the community connected to any resources they need. During the shutdowns, he found a lot of people just wanted someone to talk to.

Skowron says locally they did not see an increase in overdose issues or women or children coming in battered from abusive situations gone bad. He was pleased with that and wonders if it is because of the agricultural nature of the area where people have to go to work no matter the circumstances.

Pastor DeLaughter says if you are struggling, there is no shame in seeking help. He reinforced his point about needing someone to talk to and indicates he too seeks help from time to time. If you'd like to talk to Pastor DeLaughter about critical situations in your life and need to be pointed in the right direction, he offers up his cell phone number at 217-413-0901.

You can also find the DeWitt County Substance Abuse Coalition on Facebook.