This Pekin addiction treatment center is on the move, but has plans to stay close
The Gateway Foundation, a Chicago-based nonprofit addiction treatment provider, has suspended operations at its downtown Pekin facility. Yet the organization intends to maintain its presence in Tazewell County.
“We’ve got a long relationship with Tazewell County,” said Marc Turner, president of Gateway’s community services division. “When we came to Pekin, we were invited by elected officials. We’d been operating in other parts of Illinois, and they knew our reputation and had identified a need for services. We feel like we’ve had a good relationship with the community and we’d like to continue that relationship.”
Turner added that Gateway has been seeking a new location for several months after being notified by Tazewell County officials that the century-old Arcade Building, where the treatment facility was located, is slated for demolition. While the new treatment center may not be in downtown Pekin, Turner said it will be located within Tazewell County.
Background:Old Pekin buildings coming down to make way for new Tazewell facility
“The need for our services has not diminished,” he said. “There’s still a tremendous need, and we want to be a part of the community that helps meet and address that.”
The treatment center at 11 S. Capitol St. suspended operations last month, according to Turner. During the search for a new treatment center, Gateway continues to provide services on a limited basis at the Tazewell County Justice Center.
“We’re only able to run one group a day at the Justice Center,” Turner said. “At different points, we were running three groups a day in Pekin. It’s about capacity.”
Gateway Foundation currently operates 15 treatment centers throughout Illinois. Turner was not able to provide a timeline for a new center to open in Tazewell County. Jeremy Klemanski, the organization’s newly appointed president and chief executive officer, said that one of his long-term goals is to increase Gateway’s footprint in the Midwest by opening more treatment centers.
“We would have to do that in a careful way, because, obviously, we want to preserve the high quality of our services,” Klemanski said. “We don’t want to grow at the expense of quality.”
While the closure of the Pekin treatment center has temporarily limited Gateway’s in-person services, Gateway continues to offer local clients its full array of virtual services, Turner said. More information is available at gatewayfoundation.org.
This article originally appeared on Pekin Daily Times: Gateway Foundation seeking new Tazewell site as Pekin facility closes
